Phineas and Ferb: A Stitch in Time
by ViolentNerd101
Summary: My first story so plz go easy on me,R&R. After twenty years of failure, Doofensmirtz builds a time machine and ruins the timeline. Its then up to Phineas's children, with a little help from the childhood versions of their parents, to fix the timeline.
1. Author's note

**Phineas and Ferb: A Stitch in Time**

Author's Note:

I fully give credit to the geniuses who created, own, and produce phineas and ferb

I tend to switch from 1st person to 3rd person a lot so just wanted to warn ya, I'll try to minimize it but it is just the way I write

This story will probably contain a lot of chapters, each with a varying amount of information, I really haven't found a way of separating my chapters yet so please tell how I did and what I could do better

I am doing this for fun

This is my first fanfic so just keep that in mind while your reading

As this is my first fanfic, I'd appreciate reviews, good and bad, and if it's a bad review I would very much like to hear your suggestions

If while reading this you come across something you believe that you are responsible for writing in the past and have problems with me using please inform me and I will make the modifications

Rated T for all the violence in this story (It's got Marines in it) so I'll try to keep it T

Will contain some Phinbella but I'm sure since I haven't finished writing it yet

It might take me awhile to upload since I'm not used the system yet

If you have any issues with the format please tell me

Again, I must give credit to whoever came up with the following names: Adrian, Angela, Julia. I got the names from the P&F fanon because I'm not good at coming up with names

Any advice would very welcome at this time

Thank you for your time

EDIT: While the story and chapters may be short and rather lacking in the beginning I do believe it gets better near the end

List of Characters (Past: Ten year old selves from the series, Future: The unaltered timeline versions, Alternate Future: Self-explanatory. If more than one is listed then more than one version will be seen in the story)

Phineas Flynn (Past, Future, and Alternate Future)

Ferb Fletcher (Past, Future and Alternate Future)

Isabella Garcia-Shapiro/Flynn (Past, Future)

Buford Van Stomm (Past)

Baljeet (Past)

The Fireside Girls (more specific names will be specified in the story)

Adrian, Angela, and Julia Flynn (Phineas/Isabella's kids)

Summary (I'm not very good at these)

Phineas and Ferb: A Stitch in Time takes place mostly in the future where the future Doofensmirtz has grown tired of losing and accepts the fact that he isn't getting any younger. He invents a time machine and travels back in time and wrecks the timeline. However, young owner of Flynn-Fletcher Industries had just invented a device that would measure the "aura" of space time to make sure everything is as it should. He quickly measures that negative effects Doofensmirtz has had on the timeline and works quick to try and protect himself and his family from fading from existence. After realizing, he'll only have time to save his kids before vanishing himself, he leaves them a coded message in his "tech room" which has also been safeguarded from the effects of the timeline but doesn't protect humans. It includes a transporter, prototype time machine, and other gadgets to help Adrian and his sisters repair the timeline. Seeing no other option but to get help from their father they jump back in time right before the stitch. After running into phineas and the gang fresh from their trip around the world they watch the recorded message their father gave them. They all decide to go to the future…a future of war and destruction. Inevitably, they must team up with phineas and the gang and even their alternate future forms to fix the time machine and the timeline.


	2. What are we gonna do today?

**Phineas and Ferb: A Stitch in Time**

Chapter One: What are we gonna do today?

Doofensmirtz's POV

"ugh" sighed an older, worn out Doofensmirtz.

"You win again, curse you Perry the Platypus." He said in an exasperated voice, Twenty years of evil schemes, twenty years of losing to an _animal_. He watched as his lifelong enemy walk out the door. _He probably doesn't have any regrets_ thought Doofensmirtz. And why would he? Perry had defeated him at every turn. He had once aspired to rule the Tri-State area and now he only aspired to be permitted the dignity of dying in alone in his home. He sat and pouted for hours on end waiting to be defeated one again. _You know what? No, I just can't accept this!_ Doofensmirtz was fed up with his life, a life of failure, of insignificance. He had to find a way out and fast as he wasn't getting younger. Then it occurred to him the advise and evil friend of his had once given him, "Never get discourage Heinz for time is a weird thing. The slightest influence can change an entire world. Time is indeed a very tricky and _fragile_ thing."

After all these years he finally figured out what that meant. Doofensmirtz knew what he was going to do today.

Phineas's POV

"So Ferb, oh brother of mine, what endeavor should we partake in today?" Phineas asked looking over to his step-brother. _How perfect is my life?_ He asked himself. _I've got a beautiful family and my job is to do what I've always done best, seizing the day!_ Puzzled I looked over at Ferb, surprise he hadn't offered up a suggestion. Instead Ferb sat there with a blank look on his face.

"I….I don't know." He finally responded in a tone I had never heard before.

"What do you mean, you don't know? We've always been able to come up with amazing things to do! Is it even possible to run out of ideas?" I asked. Then I thought about it. We always created things we love because we couldn't imagine life without them. We made things to have unique experiences. They did what wanted but they had everything they wanted and never wanted them to be taken away. So, Ferb and I sat in that car in the parking lot of out factory with no idea what we were going to that day.

Adrian's POV

"All right, Angela, Julia, whatcha think we should do today?" I asked with eagerness and excitement. I looked on at my sisters waiting for one of them to come up with something because boredom was unacceptable. One of the many things he had inherited from his father. I have always been told how much I'm like my father, and besides my hair and cloths we do look surprisingly alike. When comparing myself to pictures of my dad when he was ten the only difference being my black hair and green shirt. My sisters of course were spitting images of my mother only they sported the awesome color of red hair. _I don't care what anyone says, I'm dyeing my hair red when I get older._

"I know! We could build a beauty salon!" Angela squealed with excitement and was soon joined by Julia.

"Well, not what I was thinking but ok. I'll just call together my fireside boys troop and we'll be ready to go" I replied hastily and ran off to make the necessary calls. Every day of summer was a new adventure for him, how could anyone ask for more?

Doofensmirtz's POV

_Yes, yes its so simple! A monkey could do it!_ Doofensmirtz had finally finished it.

"You know, I have to say for something so complex in nature it was sure easy to build with this kit…oh well" laughed Doofensmirtz. Finally, I'd get a chance at the life I deserved and I know exactly how to do it. _Destroy Perry the Platypus and leave the schematics for my robot army creator with my previous self._

"Now, when was Perry the Platypus most vulnerable?" he asked himself. Then it hit him, when perry the platypus was in france after Vanessa had busted him out. He shed a tear at this thought and quickly entered the coordinates, _June 21st, 2010._ I let out my accustomed laugh and flipped the switch. The machine coughed and choked out; displaying the message "URANIUM POWER SOURCE DEPLETED"

"Ack, Curse you, radiation powered time machine! Now where can I get my hands on some Uranium." He pondered.

Phineas POV

We had been sitting out there for hours; nothing came up not even a hint of an idea. I had missed a few calls from Isabella who was a bit worried and took the time to talk to her. After a few rings Isabella picked up.

"Hey it's me." I spoke into the phone. I glanced back to see Ferb still in a state of deep thought.

"Hey Phineas, Whatcha Doin?" Isabella replied. She always had a way of making him smile even with just two words.

"Trying to figure out what to do today, me and Ferb are in a bit of a rut" I replied in a saddened tone.

"Well, don't worry, honey, you'll find something to do and then you won't have enough time. You know how funny time is." She replied in her always cheerful tone.

"Yeah…its also such a fragile thing too. I know what we're gonna do today! Thanks Isabella you're the best, I'll see ya later, bye!" I quickly replied before informing Ferb of my plans. It had hit me that time is such a funny thing and how the slightest decisions could change thing for better or for worse. I thought of all the times time travel had affected my life and I never want anything to take away my family.

Doofensmirtz's POV

"Oh my gosh, Uranium is hard to come by. At least I never have to tell anyone how I got it…anyway back to the past!" a triumphant Doofensmirtz cheered as he went back in time. Little did he know that his actions that day would start a series of events that would tear apart the world and his life…


	3. A Stitch in Time

**Phineas and Ferb: A Stitch in Time**

Chapter Two: A Stitch in Time

Phineas's POV

After working for hours he had finally done it. He had invented a device that would measure "All that was right in the universe" I looked over at Ferb who had an exalted look on his face. We knew we had successfully seized the day.

"Well, that was certainly a great way to spend the day, but I got to go. Emily's meeting me for an early dinner so, I'll see you tomorrow bro!" Ferb spoke as he left the building. I wasn't done yet; I was working on a way to use the energy in the air to create a field unaffected by the alteration of space time. Unfortunately, something so simple in nature was very complex in construction. However, glancing at my family photo every once in awhile helped. So, on Phineas worked to find a way to protect his family. He and Ferb already built a device similar in nature but it only protected the objects in the room, like the computers and the molecular transporter they had made for their warm up project. Phineas worked and worked until he had finally been able to miniaturize the device and adapt its use to meet the needs of his family. He had planted this device in a watch but only had three done, one for each of his children. He was working on a watch for Isabella when a message popped up on his screen followed by an alarm. "Space Time Continuum Distorted, Alternate Future, Time till Dissipation: 1:30:00"

Adrian's POV

"All right guys, thanks for coming!" I yelled at my friends as they left.

"How is your mom gonna react when she sees your knew, reckless endangerment of life patch?" a fireside boy scream at him from across the yard. I glanced down at my most newly acquired patch; the resulting mental images it brought up made me smile.

"What she doesn't know won't hurt her!" I replied. It had been a fulfilling day. So, I sat under the tree and prepared to relax, my sisters soon coming to join me.

"So Adrian, Whatcha thinkin?" Julia popped up still holding her bear. Me and Angela had been born at the same time, twin. We were both ten, but Julia was seven.

"Just how lucky I am, to have such a fun life!" I replied as happy as ever. It was true; I did things that no one else could, with the exception being my father.

"Well, that's all fine and dandy but you were hanging out with Derek today weren't you?" Angela nervously said. I had known that she had a crush on my best friend for awhile now and to be honest it still made me a bit uncomfortable.

"Well, Angela, the thing is-"I began to say but was cut off by the transporter. We rematerialized to see our worried father. He quickly grabbed us and threw some sort of watch on our hands. I glanced over at the screen: "Time till Dissipation: 00:01:45" Whatever that meant.

Phineas's POV

"You know mom's gonna freak when she sees we're gone!" I heard Adrian say. It didn't matter; Phineas had failed to solve the problem with the hour he had been given. He could now only hope his children would be able to fix the timeline. _It isn't fair that they should be the ones to fix this when I know it has something to do with me and my life._

"No time for that (Computer Announcement: Time Till Dissipation 45 seconds) listen, this room is safe, it won't change like everything else!" I frantically began informing them.

"What do you mean daddy." Julia popped up with scared look in her eyes.

"I mean everything's gonna change because someone went back in time to change the timeline, in this room you will have the technology to fix this but… I won't be able to help you. I know it isn't fair but you have to do this" I felt ashamed telling my kids this. I glanced over, tears in my eyes. _This could be the last time I ever see my kids._ He felt himself began to fade from existence.

"I love you" he managed to say before it was too late. Then he thought of Isabella and then there was darkness.

Adrian's POV

I knew instantly what was going on and I could tell Angela knew to because she was trying to calm down Julia, who was too young to understand. She explained that it was a stitch in time that needs to be fixed in order to restore life to normal. _She makes it sound like it would be easy. I wish I could believe in fairy tale endings._ He couldn't think of a way to fix this.

"So, what do we do now?" Julia finally broke the silence. I glanced over to see the tear streaks in my sister's eyes, watching their father vanish in front of them had taken its toll, on everyone.

"I…I don't know Julia. But I'll think of something." I replied flashing a reassuring smile her direction. She immediately cheered up and I longed for the days when I was ignorant enough to be cheered up with a smile.

"I just wish dad was here to help us." Angela added, staring down at her feet, her red hair soaked with her own tears. Then it hit me, if we could go back to before the stitch we could theoretically, bring Phineas to the future without disrupting the space time continuum. _Good thing I don't have to explain this to anyone. But where to go?_ I began to type on the computer, ignoring the plethora of questions my sisters had been shoving at me. Then, a date popped up: "June 21st, 2010"

"Guys, I know what we're gonna do today!" Adrian spoke as he pulled the lever and the portal to the past opened up. The three siblings held hands as they went through, not knowing what to expect.


	4. First A Trip Around the world

**Phineas and Ferb: A Stitch in Time**

Chapter Three: First a trip around the world 

(Probably one of the shortest chapters)

Adrian's POV

After stepping though the portal, Adrian quickly realize there was little difference between here and the place they had just come from. I glanced over at my sisters, both still in shock, trying to understand what just happened. I stood there for what seemed like an eternity watching them, trying to figure out some way of making them feel better. It was then I heard something I didn't really expect to hear.

"GET ON THE TRIKE!" some strange voice screamed across the lot. I could tell this had intrigued my sisters as well.

"What was that?" Julia asked but was quickly silenced by Angela.

"Maybe we ought to follow them and lay low for awhile at least until we figure things out." Angela whispered to me. I nodded in agreement and signal for Julia to come out of her hiding place. So, we followed that group of kids as they finished their epic adventure around the world.

"You know, that red-head looks an awful lot like you, Adrian." Julia commented as we watch them sing and dance behind the bushes. She obviously didn't realize we had time traveled.

"Do you know what time travel means?" Angela asked her. I gave her a _Duh!_ Look and to that she gave me an evil look that never failed to send chills down my spine.

"No, no I don't" Julia replied with smile on her face. However, it seemed the festivities were ending and we watched as all the people of the neighborhood departed the backyard, leaving only the younger version of Phineas and Ferb laying under the tree looking up at the stars.

Phineas's POV

An exhausted Phineas lay dead on the grass, absorbing its comfortable coolness. He was surprisingly tired and soar but still energetic. _Another day seized!_

"So Ferb, what did ya think of our world adventure!" I finally broke the silence. Of which Ferb gave me that _We could have done better_ look.

"Yeah, I know if I had to do it over again, I wouldn't have made the bet. That put too much pressure on it and I didn't get to relax or enjoy each location." I started rambling on about the trip. I also felt guilty that Isabella didn't have as much fun as she wanted to. She seemed awful disappointed about something.

"I also feel bad about Isabella, I mean, I know she had fun but there was just something a bit wrong with her. She seemed _sad_." Phineas chatted with his brother. His brother proceeded to subtly give the _You're the most oblivious person in the world_ look but even then Phineas didn't get it.

"Ah well, we can do something nice for her tomorrow, I still need to recover from today. I can't believe I nearly lost my co-" Phineas began to say but was cut off by black haired version of himself, and two other girls that looked surprisingly similar to Isabella.

"Excuse me, you're Phineas Flynn, right?" he began to say. It was weird looking at him but I try not to judge people on first impressions.

"Yes, yes I am. But I don't believe I've met you before, what's your name?" I replied, Ferb standing next to me clearly having the same thought I was. _Who are these kids?_

"I'm Adrian Flynn…your son." Adrian replied.


	5. The Few, The Proud

**Phineas and Ferb: A Stitch in Time**

Chapter Four: The Few, The Proud

Phineas's POV

I stood there in a state of shock and disbelief, mainly because part of me believed him. _No way, that can't be true. _Then he thought back to all of the times he had traveled through time and if this was indeed his son than it he would be able to do the same thing.

"O-k? You're my son?" I finally forced myself to say. Adrian nodded in agreement and I looked over at Ferb who was staring at both me and "my children". Finally he spoke,

"Well, they all have genetic characteristics similar to yours…" I stared at him, wondering what was going on.

"So, what are you do-" he began to say but was cut off by Julia who had just gotten the point. Adrian and Angela rolled their eyes as Julia squealed, "DADDY!"

"What do you guys want?" Ferb asked for me. Even though I gave him a help me look he just let Julia squeeze the life out of me. It wasn't the most comfortable thing he'd ever experienced but seeing it as his only way out, he finally returned the hug. Then he turned to his other kids and asked, "Yeah, what do ya guys need?"

"Well, the thing is, dad, I mean you, invented a device the measured whether or not the timeline was correctly oriented and well, someone went back in time and change the timeline." Adrian quickly replied. I tried focusing on him but another part of my mind was stuck on the fact that all my kids shared Isabella's characteristics too. _She likes me? Do I like her? I'm so confused!_ Then, I realized I had zoned out, and Ferb tapped my shoulder, "Uh, Phineas?"

"Oh sorry, wait a sec, if the timeline's changed shouldn't you guys have changed with it?" I asked. Adrian then point to his watch and replied,

"You invented this to protect us from that but you didn't have time to finish his own watch or mom's watch, but it's our job to fix the timeline and we need your help!" This was too weird but he had to help, but not yet he needed to rest.

"Ferb, I know what we're gonna do tomorrow!" I replied as Ferb wrote it down in his book. I glanced over at Adrian, who was a little disappointed we wouldn't start now but was looking forward to some rest. So they snuck them in, agreeing it would be better if his parents didn't see their future grandchildren. Candace even walked in once but was too busy day dreaming about Jeremy to notice so we locked our room for the first time and went to sleep.

Adrian's POV

This isn't the sort of thing you say to your father but, what the hell? The fate of the future isn't something you sleep on, no matter how tired you are. It was midnight and I was still wide awake, I looked over to Phineas, Ferb, and my sisters wondering how they could sleep. I continued to shut my eyes and pretend, to just keep trying but his father had trusted him with this mission. He couldn't fail, it wasn't an option. Finally, he drifted to sleep, only to be disturbed by nightmares.

Phinea's POV (Dream)

_ "Would you like to go to the Night of the Falling Stars Girl's Choice Dance tonight?" Isabella asked still in her lab coat. It sounded like a wonderful idea after we changed out of our space suits._

_ "Sounds like fun!" I replied. Then I worried about our schedule, but me and Ferb usually keep evenings open for friends._

_ "Really?" Isabella asked cheerfully. I glanced at Ferb and asked, "Ferb, How's our nine o'clock?" and once Ferb gave me the thumbs up, "Ok we'll be there!"_

_ "Both of you?" Isabella asked in a quizzical fashion. I couldn't understand but she sounded a little disappointed._

_ "Yeah, why don't you come over and we can all walk over together!" I said, a giant grin on my face._

_ "Sure, no prob." Isabella replied sadly._

The dream ended, but I stirred so slowly to see Julia curled in a ball next to me with her thumb in her mouth. This was all so much for him to take. How could he be so stupid not to realize that Isabella liked him? The only thing was, he had always liked her too. He just never wanted to come off as weird or anything, never wanted to show his true feelings out of embarrassment. Now he did for the sake of the friendship and for the fact that every time he wasaround her he just couldn't do it. _Flynn, what have you gotten yourself into?_ I had to find some way to fix the timeline, but I wouldn't be able to do it until I find out what needs to be fixed and the differences between the two timelines. I'd have to talk to my alternate future self, Ferb could do some research, Isabella and the fireside girls could help too. Buford would inevitably come with Baljeet and they needed a computer geek to hack into some mainframes. Buford would add some security even though he's coward, he can fight. He stayed up about an hour planning the process, and then he fell asleep and went back to dreaming about Isabella.

Adrian's POV(The Next Day)

Oh what a long morning, getting all the troops assemble and trying to get Isabella to focus on the fireside troop. Now everyone had know the plan, the first step would be to find out what happened to Phineas, using the eye cameras they installed when shortly before their trip around the world, according to phineas they would still work. Then we would lock onto his genetic signature and transport him to codename "Haven", or the room that's timeline proof. Then we'd get future Ferb, find out where the stitch happened and erase it from history.

"All right, everyone ready?" I asked, everyone quickly responded. The portal opened and we all stepped through.

"All, girls, move, move, move! Set everything up!" Isabella ordered her troop as everyone began to run to their places. Baljeet began to research the history, while the fireside girls installed the separate work stations phineas and ferb had build. He described it as the most terrible thing he'd ever seen. It was World War Three, even America had been invaded, but all nuclear arms had been disabled by some experimental French weapon. The lines had been drawn and it was a fight to the finish. The casualties lists were unbearable. Julia and Angela burst into tears but being a fireside boy I managed to keep my cool.

"Don't worry we're gonna fix this." I comforted them. Then Baljeet screamed out that he had found Phineas. Everyone gathered around the screen and waited for the screen to load. What they saw shocked everyone.

_Name: Phineas H. Flynn_

_Spouse: N/A_

_Next of Kin: Candace Johnson_

_Service Number: 2001458A_

_Rank: Captain_

_Unit: Bravo Company, 2__nd__ Battalion, First Marine Division_

_Branch: USMC_

_Status: Deployed, Middle East_

(Note: Since this is a fictional story, I can do whatever I want with this military. I have a lot of respect for actually soldiers and the military and this is not what something like this would look like, this is just for the story)


	6. The Marines

**Phineas and Ferb: A Stitch in Time**

Chapter Five: The Marines

Adrian's POV

We all looked on at the screen with disbelief in our eyes. We read on, Phineas had enlisted fresh out of high school, before the wars. Afterward, he had been involved in almost every combat operation since, earning himself two purple hearts and a Medal of Honor for refusing to fall back from the White House when America was temporarily invaded. They wanted to keep him back for publicity, but nothing would stop him from going back into the frontlines. We fireside boys have always thought of ourselves as our own little branch of civil servant defending our country. I knew Isabella and the fireside girls were thinking the same thing too. We could only watch humbly as Ferb turned on the "mental camera" that they had invented when they were younger. It never served a purpose until now.

"Pfft. Hard to imagine Dinner Bell being such a good marine…" Buford pipped up but was greeted by a series of angry looks.

"Ok, this will let us see through his eyes and hear through his ears" Ferb said as he was about the punch in the keycode.

"Still I can't remember why we installed those things, it made little difference to me" Phineas added.

"Until now" Ferb replied as he punched in the final key.

Captain Flynn's POV

"ETA fifteen minutes!" The helicopter pilot screamed over the roar of the engine. _Good._

"All right marines, you know the game plan, we're gonna move in, bag the target, and get the hell out. Hoah?" I replied. All the marines immediately responded with an "Hoorah" of their own. Their mission was to capture the last remaining family member of the Doofensmirtz family, bringing an end to one of the many wars Phineas had fought throughout the years.

"Remember, we're not clear to engage until they fire first, there are civilians in the area, watch each other's backs, EVERYONE comes home today!" I roared as my troops began to double check their weapons. They had all been promised a trip home after this. After three straight year of warfare, the sickening part is, I've come to enjoy it. I have no home, I have no family, and all I have are my marines. If it were up to him he'd keep his unit in combat but he realized his troops needed a break.

"Alpha Two, this Alpha Three. Mike you reading me?" I spoke over my comm. Then I felt a pinch in the back of my head, something I hadn't felt in a long time.

"Yeah, reading you loud and clear Flynn." A marine responded through the comm.

"All right, remember, I'm gonna need you to secure the roads while I take my squad to secure the target building!" I began to tell him but was cut off.

"Don't worry, bro. I know the plan. So, what are you gonna do for your time off?" He replied. I hated to talk about my personal life as I have become emotionally deadened and felt no happiness or joy.

"Uhh, I don't know yet. But you better stay focused! Gretchen would kill me if I didn't get her husband back to her" I screamed. We were approaching the target zone, the sun cresting the horizon. So, I flicked the safety off of my M4A1 assault rifle.

Mike laughed over the microphone, "Yeah, guess you're right, watch your six devil dog. Alpha Two Out!"

"All right marines, move out!" I yelled as my soldiers started to slide down the rope and secure the area. Johnson, Richie, Peterson, Dan, Miller, Greg, all looked like professional soldiers. _They should be, being part of my squad!_

"All right marines, spread out, five meter spread, squad ignore the buildings, they are the rest of the divisions problem." I whispered as we began to move. It was quiet; we kept on moving to our objective, cautiously watching everything. Then we turned the corner and saw a massacre. It seemed all the civilian had been gathered up and killed. Phineas saw some holding guns leading one to assume they tried fighting back. Bodies lay everywhere, blood covered the streets and the scent of dead flesh penetrated the marine's nostrils. I looked over at the Rookie of our squad, Zach, who was in a state of shock.

"Come on guys, we still have a job to do. Stay Frosty" I said, patting Zach on the back. Something seemed odd here out of place, more marines from the division were now joining us, all stating that this was a dry run, a ghost town.

Isabella's POV

Today had been such a great day, waking up to the site of me and Phineas's children. I could tell he hadn't put it all together but what made it official was the family portrait I stole from the desk. I was so incredibly happy knowing that he loved me back and that it would happen. She suddenly felt even more nervous around him, wondering whether or not he had found out her secret. _Even though I've left more than enough hints_ But something about seeing that massacre about seeing, her Phineas being put in that situation was unbearable.

"Hey, you ok?" a familiar voice startled me. I looked over to see a worried Phineas who had immediately noticed my tear streaked face. Seeing him made her smile though. _He does care about me_ she thought as she drifted into Phineas-land for an all too brief trip.

Phineas's POV

He couldn't ever bear seeing her sad, even before he realized he liked her. Even when they were young, he had always felt the need to make her smile. Its what made them good friends. He didn't care whether or not they got married or stay best friends, as long as she was there it was ok.

"Oh, Phineas, yeah I'm fine." She finally replied. I could see right through her lies though. Something about what she'd seen had devastated her, it even devastated me.

"Are you sure? Cause I don't like it when your s-" I began to say but was cut off when she threw herself into his arms sobbing.

"It's just so terrible that all of these people have died, and will continue to die. Its just not fair!" she began to cry. All I could do was hold her, but something told me that wasn't the only reason she was crying. Even though it was awkward at first, I came to enjoy holding her. So we sat together, me comforting my best friend after witnessing some of the horrors of war.

Adrian's POV

We all watched in silence, a few of the fireside girls giving up a few salutes along the way. Isabella had left after seeing the massacre, with Phineas quickly leaving to try and cheer her up. We were all so caught up into it; it was like a really good, but horrible movie. Something you didn't watch but had to see. Phineas and Isabella quietly re-entered and took their seats and continued to watch. I caught them out of the corner of my eye but was too sucked into the screen to really ask about it. So, on we watched with silence and respect.

Captain Flynn's POV

"Alpha Two, this is Alpha Three. Got any visuals on the target?" I whispered over the mike.

"Negative dude, this place is dead. Maybe command got the coordinates mixed up." He responded over the comm.

"Now what are the odds of that?" Johnson added sarcastically.

"Pretty damn high if you ask me." Dan responded.

"Keep quiet! You never know what's out there." I put an end to that conversation, but as more marines joined us the worse it got.

"Hey, Richie, ten bucks says I score a kill faster than you." Miller broke the silence.

"Your on, man. I've been practicing on the range." Richie replied.

"God help us all" another marine added.

"We all know you can't hit the broadside of a barn, that's why they give you the big gun, to make you feel better about yourself" Miller jabbed at Richie. The marines started to laugh. _Years of war have made these guys complacent._

"Shh!" I spoke through gritted teeth. They all got the message, responding with the appropriate silence. They all knew they were getting closer to their target. Now even Phineas was starting to get a little relaxed. They had secured the town without a shot fired. Then as Phineas turned the corner, the building next to him exploded.


	7. AMBUSH!

**Phineas and Ferb: A Stitch in Time**

Chapter Six: AMBUSH!

(The next few chapters will be told through the marine's perspective)

(This chapter has language, violence, and gore, Be warned)

(Also, I'm trying to keep it T, but if this should be rated M please let me know so I can change the rating)

(Remember, this is fiction, so If exaggerate some military things I apologize. God bless all those who have served, are serving, and who have died serving.)

Captain Flynn's POV

It had only taken him moments to recover, it wasn't the first time he'd been in an explosion and it certainly wasn't the worse. Gunfire was all around them.

"AMBUSH!" Richie screamed at the top of his lungs, "Get to cover!"

"Contacts Right! Contacts Right!" another marine yelled. The marines began to spread out and return fire.

"Got a group of tangos to the left!" Dan yelled. Another marine added, "The bastards are everywhere!" I took cover behind the car, and immediately notice, that enemy opposition was most heavily concentrated in the building on the right. I saw a marine run out in front, I tried telling him to stop but he was cut down before I could utter one syllable. He lay there staring at me, trying to move, and trying to get help.

"Cover me!" I screamed as I ran out to, bullets flying by, I could hear them hit the ground, I could feel the wind hit my face, but it didn't matter. I grabbed the marine with one hand and lifted my rifle with the other. I dragged him back to the car.

"Corpsman!" I screamed as I fired at the enemy. I looked over, and behind a destroyed van, two children no older than twelve picked up their father's guns. They didn't even get to life their rifles before being cut down.

"All right listen up! Dan, Johnson, Richie, I want you lay down suppressing fire on the building! Zach," the rookie turned and looked at me with fear in his eyes, "You, me, and Greg are gonna go around the building to the right!" They nodded in acknowledgement. All the marines lifted their rifles and waited for the order._ I love this job._

P.F.C. Zach's POV

It was so loud. I had never seen combat before, despite all the things I had told my friends. I wasn't the big bad marine my family and friends made me out to be before I deployed. I was just a guy trying to make a living. Just a man and I was scared. I saw Captain Flynn go down and everything afterwards was a blur. I emptied a clip or two at the enemy, called out a few shots, but I hadn't hit anything. Then I sat down behind the rubble I was using for cover, just trying to get home to my family. I heard Captain Flynn's voice as he ran out to save his downed brother. I had to respect that, had to sit in awe as he did something I could never have the guts to do. I wasn't the right man to back him up during the flank.

"GO, GO, GO!" he yelled, and I began to run with him to right. I wasn't the right man for this job.

Staff Sergeant Richie's POV

I loved my holographic sight. When shit hits the fans, it ensures that every one of my shots is lethal. We all got the jitters and we all got scared. The only thing that keeps us going is our comrades, every time we pull the trigger, every time we kill a man it's for the man watching out backs. Since this ordeal has begun, I'd gotten three kills and only used up one clip. I don't understand why people flip on full auto, it's just a waste of ammo but at I guess it keeps the enemies heads down. He flipped his SCAR-H to full auto and waited for the order.

"GO, GO, GO!" Flynn screamed as I see him, Zach, and Greg bolt from cover.

"Suppressing Fire!" I yelled as I lifted my gun and fired at anything I could see. All the other marines did the same some calling out targets.

"Target, left side. Behind the barricade!" Peterson points out the target to me. I see him, a man in his twenties with an AK-74, he lifts his rifle and I mow him down.

"How long is this gonna take?" a frantic marine said as the enemies machine guns resumed firing. I turned to see two marines from the division get hit and fall.

"Man down! Corpsman!" I heard another one say. I glance over to see the marine trying to resuscitate his friend.

"Come on, Max, I need you to breathe for me." he mutters helplessly, ignoring the volley of bullets ricocheting past him.

"Damn it! You're not dying like this, you're gonna go home and see you wife and kids and have a barbeque and do all the wonderful things families do. But you need to breathe!" he screamed, tears choking him as he tried his best to bring his best friend back to life. _War is hell,_ Thought Richie, as he resumed to fire.

Gunnery Sergeant Greg's POV

I looked at Zach as we ran to the building. _He's just a kid, fresh out of high school._ They were all kids, now a days. The only exception he could think of was Flynn, of whom he had served with for ten years. Flynn was his best friend. He even told me about the accident that happened when he was ten that turn him into an "emotionless monster". What one man calls a monster, I call a bad ass soldier.

"All right, that's the building." Flynn said without faltering to catch his breath.

"I see two RPDs in the window and some snipers on the roof." I muttered under my breath. Zach took the time to crouch down and regain himself.

"All, left side door breach. Breach and clear until the building is secure." Flynn responded.

"Wait, shouldn't we get some more troops first." Zach added still trying to catch his breath.

"Too risky with those RPDs, it's up to us." Flynn replied, swapping magazines to make sure he had a full clip.

"Besides, we've done stuff like this before, eh Flynn. Remember Washington?" I added.

"Hoorah" was Flynn's only response. The covered each other with a three meter spread sweep towards the building, and all they had seen was a few women and children. Then they came up to the door. I planted the charge and waited for Phineas's order to breach while Zach covered us. He nodded and I blew the charge.

"Breaching, Breaching!" I muttered as Flynn charged through door with me following close behind. I could see already he had taken out four tangos. He signals for me and Zach to move up and clear the first floor. The rest of this would take place silently. Zach opens the door and throws a flashbang through, quickly shooting any targets in the room. I do the same, when I turn the corner I see two men, using their wives as a shield. I fire to rounds and drop the instantly. I turn around to walk away but out of the corner of my eye I see one of the reach for the gun. _Don't do it._ She picked up the gun, and I fired, two shots clean to the chest. She was dead before she hit the floor.

"First floor clear!" I hear Zach say over the comm. I walk out to see Flynn cautiously moving up the stairs. I hear him firing his weapon and the bodies hitting the floor. So, we clear the next two floors with little difficulty as the RPD gunners and snipers were too busy tearing up our boys to notice us. But as I cleared the last room, I felt a piercing pain in my chests. I collapsed. The man I had shot wasn't dead and had pulled out his pistol. Blood began to soak my uniform and spill out onto the ground. _I always had known this would happen someday_. He felt his strength ebb out of him, he felt Flynn trying to help but he knew he was a dead man. He pulled Flynn close and muttered, "Watch your six, devil dog." And with that he smiled. Then all went black.

Captain Flynn's POV

I closed the eyes of who had been my best friend for ten years. It enraged me to think that of all the ways to go, he got shot in the back by a man who had just enough life in him to lift a gun. I shifted through his uniform, and took one of his dog tags to confirm he had been killed in action. I wish I could say I felt more pain in the fact that my best friend had died but I didn't. It was just like every other dead marine or dead person he had encountered. He learned not to love after the accident and Greg had known that. Still, Greg had chosen to call me his best friend. I went and cleared the rest of the house with Zach, putting an additional two rounds into each target to avoid the same fate as Greg.

"Alpha Three, this Alpha Two." I hear Mike over the comm. I glance over at Zach, who informs Richie that the building on the right has been secure, and relays Flynn's orders to move up and sweep the rest of the street.

"This Alpha Three, What's up?" I respond. I hear some static which quickly clears up after I tapped the radio a few times.

"I've requisition an Abrams and a Black Hawk to provide some support as we move up the road, over." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. We were told that tank and air support wouldn't be available for another week since we were behind enemy lines.

"How'd you manage to pull that one out your hat Mike?" I asked, and even though it was a joke, Flynn had said it in his usually emotionless tone. He heard Mike laugh, "You don't want to know but let us just say I've got the magic fingers. Alpha Two out."

I was pleased that we would be getting some support, especially after the casualties we had just experienced. However, after all the bloodshed, things were starting to look up. Then he thought of what Greg had said to him, _Watch you six, devil dog._


	8. The Flag

**Phineas and Ferb: A Stitch in Time**

Chapter Seven: The Flag That I Trust 

Captain Flynn's POV

Hours after the marines first invaded the small country of Doofania to eradicate the last surviving leader of the Doofensmirtz Empire.

They had been running for hours with no break, nipping at the heels of the 8th armored. They had seen little action since the ambush, but were starting to get tired, At least, everyone but me, since I had a hidden flame fueling me to keep on moving. A marine collapses but is quickly picked up by two more marines. After awhile, they reach what looks like a field HQ and take the opportunity to rest and find out what's going on. The sound of small arms fire, and mortars in the distance didn't have any effect on Richie as he laid his head on his pack to take a nap.

"Hey, Phineas! What took you guys so long?" Mike asked, as I made my way to command room.

"That Black Hawk you sent missed its mark; we had to run the whole way!" I replied, taking the moment to catch my breath.

"Sorry, dude" he replied with a smile on his face, "anyways General Fredricks is on the line; apparently the 8th armored has finished establishing a perimeter around the Doofensmirtz compound."

"And? Why not just pull our infantry back and blow that place into hell?" I asked. Mikes answer was short and sweet, civilians. It made no difference, I just didn't want to have to run the whole way and have to half-ass it in combat.

"We'll get transport right?" I asked. Mike nodded and gestured towards a line of HUMVEEs with 50 caliber machine guns on top of them.

"All right so what's the plan?" I finally asked. Then Mike gestured me into the communications room.

Staff Sergeant Richie's POV

Finally, we can stop. At this point, Richie didn't care whether it was combat or the field HQ, he just wanted an excuse to hunker down and rest. The sound of war echoed in the distance, but that never bothered me as I had become used to it. I lay down, and darkness took over me until Johnson woke me up.

"Hey, Richie, you awake?" he asked lightly shaking me. I was immediately annoyed by that question.

"No, why do you ask?" I replied grumpily. He gave me an _oh come on_ look and I finally said, "Seriously what's up?"

"They got the Gunny." He replied shakily. _What does that mean?_

"Who got him?" I asked. To which he replied, "One of those bastards shot him the back. Flynn didn't say anything; I just heard it from Zach." How could none of them had notice, they should have asked something when he didn't meet back up with us, why didn't we notice. I became filled with rage, angry at Flynn, for not telling us, angry at the bastard who shot him, and angry with myself for not noticing.

"I guess, we had so many casualties he just blended in." Johnson said in a quiet, sad tone. It was true, none of them had noticed. All they could do, was make sure he didn't die for nothing.

Several Hours Later

Midnight

Captain Flynn's POV

It was going to be glorious fight, the stuff portrayed in Hollywood movies that teenagers loved. It was going to be a Shock and Awe campaign, with tanks, helicopters, and most importantly marines. The catch was we'd only have tank support and air support shortly, as most of their forces were being called away to stave off the Russian invasion forces. So they'd move in, secure the town and hold it until morning. _Cakewalk._ I thought as we approached the town. Helicopters buzzed over head, dropping their payload on the unsuspecting enemy. A tank next to our HUMVEE started to fire, its deafening noise causing my ears to ring. It also causes some of the marines to scream with pride.

"Yeah, gets some!" a marine yells, with other murmurs of agreement filling the HUMVEE, I realized that I should let them enjoy themselves for awhile since after tonight it was possible most of them would shell-shocked beyond recognition.

I looked at my watch, and saw the check point where we had to get out, and cocked my M4.

"All right, Marines!" I spoke over the comm., while getting out of the truck, a volley of gun fire was there to greet us. I quickly took cover behind a stone wall and signaled for my squad to move out or die where they sat.

"Lets rock!" the machine gunner yelled as he let loose on the buildings. Marines began to charge up the line.

"Move move!" one would say, "Tangos to the right" went another.

We ran, and fired, the enemy's bodies falling to the ground. The noise was deafening.

"All units stand clear. We're gonna level the building on left." I heard the tank commander say over the comm.

"Everybody get down!" I screamed as me and majority of the marines hit the dirt. It took three rounds to level that building into a pile of rubble. Then I heard the exploding shells.

"Mortars! Get off the road!" Richie screamed, "Into the buildings, clear out the buildings!" I ran inside one of the buildings, kicking in the door and shooting any enemy in my path.

"I want base of fire from these windows!" I screamed while emptying a clip into the line of soldiers I had flanked. Marines began to take up firing positions against the windows. One of our tanks had been disabled and the crew quickly got out, loading up their M4s in the process. _Every Marine is a rifleman._ I looked to see Zach, crying in the corner. I went to talk to him, but out the corner of my eye saw enemy troops in the open crossing the street.

"Private, what the hell are you doing?" I screamed as I fired at the enemies. I picked up his M4 and shoved it into his hands, "Fire your weapon!"

"Richie, take your squad and secure the building on the left!" I began to order, "Franko, same thing but take the building on the right!" The sound of mini-guns strafing the street was starting the get annoying. A marine next to me got hit in the neck, spraying blood all over the place and into my eyes. It took me a couple second to recover, cleaning my eyes without paying attention to the rest of my face.

"Come on! Move up!" I screamed as I slapped clip into my assault rifle and began to charge up the street. Bullets flew past us, a few marines fell to the ground, and blood was everywhere. We came up to a building, I looked on and nodded at Johnson and he kicked down the door. I rushed in, emptying my clip into the gunmen waiting at the door. We continued to move in and clear the building. Marines were screaming franticly, calling out targets, calling for medics, and some just plain screaming.

"Alpha Three, this Alpha Two, we're pinned down near the eastern crossroads, our Abrams is down. Are you in a position to assist?" I heard Mike scream over the comm.

"Squad, on me!" I screamed before pushing the button on my headset and replying, "Alpha Two, hang on we're Oscar Mike to your position, over!"

"Hurry up, I don't know how much longer we ca-"Mike began to say. Over the radio Phineas could hear the impact.

"Mike's in trouble, we gotta hustle, let's go!" I screamed as my squad and I rushed to determine the fate of Alpha Two. Over the mike he could hear Mike's squad amidst all the gunfire:

"Sarge is hit; let's get the hell out of here!"

"Corpsman!"

"Defend this position!"

"Contacts left and right, I got movement in the buildings!"

"Watch the flanks."

"I'm hit, argh!"

"Alpha Two, this command, you've got two enemy helicopters loaded for bear approaching you position." A new voice spoke up through the comm. We had to get there fast; Dan and Dwayne were carrying Stinger missiles.

"Alpha Two, this Alpha Three, we're almost there just hang on!" I screamed, starting the lose hope. Some sporadic fire from the left, and Dan fell to the ground face first.

"RPD, get down!" Richie screamed, "Dan's hit, we need a medic!" I took aim, an evil look on my face. I could see the face of the machine gunner, I fired my rifle. Nobody would be able to recognize him now. Richie pulled Dan into a building where the medic was patching him up. He looked up at me, "You'll have to go on without me."

"I know, but I need you Stinger missile," I replied, he started to laugh as I grabbed the launcher and threw it over my shoulder, "take care of yourself, Sergeant."

"Yes, sir." He replied giving a weak salute. I patted the medic, and ran to save what was left of Alpha Two. We ran, meeting no resistance, until we reached the crossroads. The only marines we saw were the ones that lay dead on the ground, still holding their guns.

P.F.C. Zach's POV

I don't understand why it's so hard for me to do this, but I just can't. Once the bullets start flying, I just want to run away and hide. I knew I was letting my squad down, and people were dying because of me. I've regretted enlisting for ground forces since that first shot. But this time it was different. One of the members of Alpha Two was someone he had been friends with since childhood. He had a crush on his sister for the longest time, and Carl always promised to get us together when we got home. Now I was worried about getting him home.

"Enemy hind at your twelve!" Flynn yelled. Then for the first time in my life, I pulled up my rifle and tried to kill something.

Captain Flynn's POV

What the hell was that kid doing?

"Zach, you can't shoot down a helicopter with an assault rifle, we've got Stingers!" I screamed as the rookie gave me a dumbfounded look. I swung around the stinger before getting tackled by Richie. The helicopter's machine guns began to fire, bullets hitting the ground where I just stood. Everyone ducked down, and I did the opposite, I jumped up, aimed my rocket launcher and fired.

"What the hell are you doing, Flynn? Get down!" Richie screamed over the roar of the guns. Then the rocket shot out, destroying the rotor of the helicopter, which immediately crashed into a building further up the road, the one full of enemies. The building collapsed in on itself. I glanced over to see Johnson firing his stinger, shooting down the other helicopter.

"Spread out, check the bodies." I ordered as I quickly went to find Mike. I walked over to him; he was hunched over a rock. I pulled him back and checked his pulse. _He's still alive!_ He had a very weak pulse.

"Corpsman!" I yelled, I gave Mike some room as the Corpsman came to heal his wounds. All around me laid dead marines. Richie collected the dog tags of everyone. They had failed, and Alpha Two had perished. I looked over to see the rookie crying over another marine's body. When he looked up, I saw a different Zach in his eyes, I saw hate and rage. I saw a Marine. Everyone else, gathered around me, expecting me to know what to do. Luckily, I was receiving a transmission.

"Alpha Three, this is command. Sorry about Alpha Two, but you are and team are going to need to clear the presidential buildings. All personal in the building have been confirmed hostile. Assault with extreme prejudice. Elements of the sixth are clearing the northern sections of the town. Command Out. " The voice spoke. _Extreme Prejudice always makes our lives easier._

"All right, ladies. You heard him, let's go." I spoke, while walking towards Zach, who was still crouched over the dead marine, fiddling with his dead friends dog tags.

"That means you too," I said, as he looked up with hate on his face ,before I finished," Marine." He gave me an evil grin before putting his friend's dog tags in his pocket. They sprinted toward the building, hoping for no other surprises, the area illuminated with the flames. They came across some enemy stragglers.

"Contact! Open Fire, Open Fire!" Richie screamed as the quickly cut down the enemy forces. The poor bastards didn't know what hit them; they didn't have a chance to react. As they made their way, the evidence of war surrounded them. Flaming tanks and the remains of helicopters were spread out amongst the rubble. Dead bodied littered the street, and every once in a while a truck would rush by transporting the wounded to the aid station. I wondered if Dan or Mike was still alive, I wasn't in the mood for losing any other men today. But something was up with Zach. Something happened when he saw his dead friend, something that turned him into an enraged weapon of war. This can either be of a huge benefit or disadvantage. _Either way, he is more of a marine now then he was thirty minutes ago._ Time is such a funny thing, so much can happen in a short thirty minute time period that can change a person's life forever. Phineas had had some experience in that department. But now was not the time to speculate on the past, he would have three months to do that after he got back state side.

"Hold up, possible ambush area up front." Richie broke the silence putting up a fist to halt the advance of the squad.

"All right, Richie takes Johnson and Peterson, and clear out the building to the left, I'll take Miller and Zach to the right. The rest of you sweep and clear, move up slowly." I explained and all the marines nodded.

"All right guys, you heard him, sweep and clear. Check those corners!" I heard another marine say. I gave Richie a little good luck salute, and took the right flank.

We reached the building and had cleared the first two floors without difficulty. I looked out the window to see the marines moving up the street hadn't met any resistance. It was quiet, with most of gunfire up north. All the troops had encircled the presidential building but there was nothing fired from the building.

"All right, Zach, you think you got this floor?" Zach nodded, "All right Miller, let's take to top floor." Shortly afterwards, I heard gunfire from the lower floor.

P.F.C. Zach's POV

The Captain and Miller moved upstairs to clear the top floor. I'd been itching to kill one of the sons of bitches ever since I saw Carl. We'd always told each other we were invincible and nothing would stand in our way of coming home. He had proved a more effective marine than I, with several markings on his gun representing confirmed kills. I couldn't fathom life without Carl. We were brothers, and they killed him. Now, I was gonna kill every one of their god forsaken soldiers, or die trying. I kicked down the door of one room, checking each corner, my finger on the trigger. I grew anxious, fury building up as I knocked down each door. Finally, I kicked down the door and a terrorist sat there and looked up in shock. I pointed and clicked, the shells bouncing off the ground as the man fell to the ground. His blood stained the ground. Then something pushed me into the wall, it was another one. I felt a knife rip through my clothing, but impact the wall. I thrust my rifle at him, only to have him kick it away. Then I caught him with a lucky punch, and I began to beat him to death, before slitting his god forsaken throat.

Shortly after, the marines secured the "ambush area", no casualties were taken. They began to approach the Doofensmirtz HQ.

As we made our way to the Doofensmirtz Utilities Installation or D.U.I.s as the men jokingly referred to them, fighting intensified. I order half the squad to stay down low and suppress the enemy soldiers. We breached and cleared the first couple of floors, meeting no resistance, being careful, not to damage any of the equipment. Then they reached the presidential suit.

"All right stack up, Zach," I said as marines began to line up in an organized fashion, "Your turn to clear it out." The rookie grinned, he had become too accustomed to killing in too short a time but Phineas had no complaints. He nodded and kicked the door down, and Zach rushed in. I saw the ex-mayor of Danville sitting there alone.

"Ah, I see. You have orders to take me alive." The corrupted man muttered. _How the mighty have fallen._

"You're gonna pay for what you've done here!" Zach muttered through gritted teeth.

"Oh, and you're the one to do it. Face while you will be stuck fighting a war, I'll be relaxing in a nice comfy jail cell!" he replied, laughing evilly. This set off the wrong nerve in Zach, who lifted his rifle and fired. We couldn't have blamed, we would have done far worse things to him. Even though he was worried at first, they had convinced him that nothing would happen. _The prisoner resisted arrest and Private First Class Zach Wildman was forced to terminate the subject._

"Now, how are we gonna signal everybody that this building is friendly?" Richie piped up, a majority of marines we fighting in concentrated groups with little communication between each other. To those marines, this was still and enemy building.

"Carl used to carry and American flag in his pocket to remind what he was fighting for," The rookie replied pulling out a battered, bloody flag, "It's got blood on it, but it should do the trick." I grabbed the flag, stuck it on a makeshift pole and ran up to the roof. As I planted the flag, I heard the most beautiful thing I had heard since this thing had started. The sound of hundreds of marines screaming with pride, holding up their rifles and chanting "Hoorah!" and stood there in my bloody, sweat soaked uniform in my boots caked with the blood of my enemy and the blood of my friends. I stood there, saluting the flag that I loved and trusted with my life, thinking the entire time, _Hoorah._

Author's Note

(At this moment, I would like to thank all of you, who have taken the time to read this far. It means a lot to me and I would like to hear from you. I'd also like to hear what you think of the story so far, or what I should do to finish it. I would be honored to hear from anyone who, even though they may not have liked it, read my story. To those of you have enjoyed my work; I hope that I won't disappoint you in the future! Also a note, some of you may have noticed missing worlds or misspelled words, I apologize I tend to get ahead of myself while writing and might screw up a word or two here or there. Thank you) Sincerely, ViolentNerd101


	9. Finding Ferb

**Phineas and Ferb: A Stitch in Time**

Chapter Eight: Finding Ferb

Adrian's POV

Explosions and gunfire echoed from the screen. I had seen enough. Through the screen I could hear the screaming, "All right, Marines!" "Let's Rock!" followed by deafening amounts of gunfire.

"Baljeet, turn it off." I finally broke our silence. Everyone turned and looked at me with the same look of disbelief.

"I have no interest in watching more men die." I respond dryly. Walking over to turn it off myself, I didn't have to since Baljeet was feeling the same thing. We sat there in silence for most of the day, contemplating out next move. It seemed like an eternity.

"Well, do we zap him out there?" Phineas finally asked. I looked over at him; he still had his arm around Isabella who genuinely looked like she was shell-shocked. But, I've had little to no experience with shell-shock so I could have been mistaken. That's what it looked like to me, though.

"We can't, think about how much of a shock that would be…" Ferb muttered, "To go from complete chaos to complete calmness."

"Yeah, and think of all the marines that will die when he isn't there to lead them." Buford spoke for the first time since his Dinner Bell comment. So, we all agreed that we would wait until they got Flynn home before transporting him home. Isabella was openly against it, and we could all see why. She didn't want to a see a Phineas with scars, and Phineas with no happiness. Just a Phineas filled with horror and death, but regardless we would need his help. I began to do some analysis of our area and it seemed that we were three hundred feet underground, with our only form of transport being the molecular transporter. The building that had once surrounded this place dissipated with the rest of the timeline. But they had Phineas and Ferb here, and they would still need more space.

"Here is what we'll do, Phineas, Ferb, I'm gonna need you build a drill, and some construction supplies," they gave me a puzzled look but soon had the same "I know what we're gonna do today" look, "Isabella and the fireside girls, when they finish, I'm gonna need you to drill more space. We'll need a bunk room, a "kitchen" and quite possibly an aid station." Everyone nodded and got to work as I walked towards Baljeet.

"Listen buddy, I'm gonna need _you_ to find me another Ferb." I told him, grinning wildly trying to cheer him up. This apparently worked as he got to work right away tapping on the computer.

"I want to remind all of you, this may take longer than yall expected. More than one day, which I know is unusual for you, but we are fixing the timeline after all!" I yelled out to everyone who responded with simply thumbs up. Things were starting to look up for once.

Phineas's POV

"All right Ferb, one thing we are lacking in are construction supplies," I rambled on to my brother, scratching my chin, "But it seems I have a lot of school supplies lying around, why would I work like this?" Ferb shrugged before replying,

"Well, you do have kids." That was true but we needed equipment, the time-machine wasn't an option and I had no desire to go to the surface after what I just saw. Besides, I'd been looking at the time-machine; it's a prototype and has become unstable. We could fix it but that might yield the same results as turning it on, the destruction of the space time continuum.

"We do have a molecular transporter right here though," Ferb said, raising an eyebrow. I started to stare at it, with ideas flooding my mind.

"Ferb, I know what else we're doing today!" I replied, grinning my usual grin. We pulled up the schematics, analyze them, ate with them, slept with them, we had to understand them. Then once we had them understood, we started to tweak them here or there. Then we disassembled some of the computer stations we brought with us, since they weren't being used. After awhile, Adrian walked over towards us, exhausted at trying to work on all the projects in the room.

"So, Howsit goin?" he asked with a smile on his face. _My smile_.

"Well, Ferb and I are using the materials from these stations and using them to create a molecular rearrange-er!" I replied as I signaled for him walk towards me. I glanced down to see Ferb had finished, it always surprised me how fast we could build things but I had grown accustomed to it.

"Oh, you already done?" he asked sadly. I heard a tang of disappointment in him.

"Yes, yes we are. Why?" I replied. It took him awhile to respond since Adrian was obviously still out of breath.

"Ah, nothing. It's just; I've always wanted to build something with my dad." Adrian finally responded. _I don't build things with my own son? Wow, that's kinda sad._ Adrian started to walk away but I wanted to know more,

"Wait, what do you mean I don't build stuff with you?" I asked him, my hand still on his shoulder.

"Well, you've watched me build stuff with a magical look of nostalgia in your eye and you've given me tips but yeah, you you've never sat down and built something with me." He replied shrugging and saying that's just life. I wondered where I was all day.

"So where am I?" I asked, waiting for another response, Ferb had already started to convert the school supplies to construction tools and was handing stuff out to the fireside girls. They started to work on the tunnels immediately.

"Oh, you work with Ferb all day. You own your own multi-million dollar company, Flynn-Fletcher Industries. You guys create amazing things that benefit the whole world every day and you're never greedy, you use only a modest amount of your money and donate most of the rest, but I gotta get back to work." Adrian replied hastily and walked away to help the fireside girls. The scariest part, some of the fireside girls thought Adrian was cute, which sent chills down my spine. _It's just wrong, that's my son, and you're a little old for him._ Then I got back to work.

Isabella's POV

I couldn't help but glance over at Phineas every once and awhile, wondering if he was thinking about her as much as she was thinking about him. She lifted Gretchen up onto the drilling machine and plugged herears as she began to drill the tunnels. Dirt sprayed all over the place, and I quickly hid from Phineas not wanting him to see me so filthy. _We're also installing showers._ I glanced over at Adyson who was thinking the same thing.

"Showers, make a note of it Adyson." I spoke to her, to which she responded with a salute. This reminded me of the other Phineas, was he still alive? Had he perished with the rest of the marines? She pushed it out of her mind, reminding herself in wasn't _her_ Phineas. _But it is the same Phineas, he's just been dealt a bad hand,_ a voice inside her spoke up. I shook my head and got back to the construction. Ferb kept a steady line of supplies flowing towards us, and with how fast we've build things in the past, we'd be done in an hour, max. I glanced over at Phineas, watching him talk to his son. _Our son,_ she reminded herself as she took a short trip into Phineas-land. She was day-dreaming about Phineas proposing to her in a field of flowers when she was interrupted by none other than the man she was dreaming about.

"Isabella, you ok?" Phineas asked raising an eyebrow, while shaking her to get her out of the day dream.

Just wonder-" she began say dreamily but caught herself, "-ering when you're gonna get those extra supplies to us." Phineas looked down at his shoes, a little disappointed. I hope I didn't hurt his feelings, but he quickly looked up and flashed the grin that made her fall in love with him.

"Well, that's kinda what I needed to talk to you about," he replied as I felt a stab of disappointment myself, "we've seemed to run into a glitch with our rearrange-er and I wanted to see how far you've gotten."

"Sure, no prob." I replied and signal for him to follow me into the bed room, the shower room, the kitchen, and half of the aid station.

"Very impressive, you fireside girls sure know how to get stuff done!" he said, flashing her a wink. _He does appreciate me._ I waited for him to come to a conclusion of the materials, but I what I wanted more was for him to talk about his feelings for once.

"All right, well me and Ferb should be done with the repairs shortly." He said, which in a sense was a minor victory as that meant less work necessary for them to do. I gave him a pat on the back and began to walk away but Phineas stopped me.

"Wait, Isabella, your forgetting something!" he said, grabbing my shoulder making me blush a little. Then, he pulled out of his pocket the pink bow that she couldn't find the previous morning, the one she couldn't find before embarking to fix the timeline. She was half in Phineasland the entire time so she shrugged it off. Lately though, I'd been missing it.

"May I?" he asked, and as I nodded as he put the bow in my hair, "There perfect." I looked at him and to my surprise he was blushing too. He apparently knew this as he muttered something about the machine and ran off, but I didn't care about the stupid machine.

Adrian's POV

"All right good, hey Phineas, we're gonna need some medical supplies from the rearrange-er!" I yelled as the fireside girls and Isabella came to inform me the tunnel was done. She now had the pink bow, which she never did find that morning. I wondered how she got it but found it a little amusing that even after twenty years, his mother wears the same bow. I'm not going to outright tell them, they should be smart and enough to figure out for themselves, and they are for that matter. Everything was going smoothly, we bunkered down for the long haul, and with transportation to this location limited to our transporter we would be safer here. For as long as it took to fix the timeline, even though I had been hoping to be finished fast but it was looking to be a long and tedious task. We were all exhausted and agreed that it would be better if we were to go to sleep. Baljeet freaked out due to his failure to find Ferb.

"I've disgraced myself, my family, and my friends! I hope you can forgive me!" Baljeet cried and cried. Everybody whistled and ran off to the bunk room. _Thanks guys._

"Baljeet, it's ok you can find Ferb tomorrow. Think of it this way, now you know all the places **not** to look." I responded, patting him the back and throwing my reassuring smile.

"You know, while that works with me. That smile of yours is really starting to lose meaning and I think you oughta give it rest for awhile pal." Baljeet replied completely calm. I never understood how people could just flip from angry to calm or from happy to sad. I've always felt a buffer zone before feeling anything. I'm glad it didn't take long to cheer him up though; I wasn't looking forward to spending all my rest period trying to get him to focus. I crawled in my bunk bed, right underneath my sister Angela, who was busy this entire day making Julia feel useful. Julia now snuggle with Angela still holding the same bear, Angela had also waited outside with her when the violence started to act up while watching Captain Flynn. God, that sounds weird, a designation of a man I've known my entire life but wrong. I never knew this guy, but he was a marine, and you had to respect that. I felt jealous of Julia, who honestly believed that this was all a game orchestrated by her father. I drifted to sleep only to be haunted by dreams of Captain Flynn and a voice telling me over and over, "_Adrian, time is a fragile thing."_

The Next Morning

Isabella's POV

Isabella lazily looked over at the clock which said it was still six in the morning. She groggily decided it would be better to just wake up and get over it than fall back asleep for an hour and feel worse when everybody got up. _My hair has got the Frizzies again._ She tip toed over to the bathroom and quietly made her hair and got dressed. Once she finished, she found herself without something to do and thirty minutes until everybody else got up. She noticed how cute Phineas looked, how peaceful he was when he slept. She nearly squealed in joy when she remembered that this was the man she'd be waking up with every morning. I couldn't control myself, I tip toed over to his and gave him a gently kiss on the cheek. It wasn't much but to her it was the exhilaration of a life time. _I kissed Phineas! Granted he wasn't awake and doesn't really count but I KISSED PHINEAS._ She sat there, spending the next thirty minutes in Phineasland, all the while staring at Phineas.

Phineas's POV

I know I should be focusing on the timeline, but every night I find myself dreaming about Isabella. I even had a dream that she had kissed me, and it was wonderful. Granted it was on the cheek and by guy-code rules doesn't count but it was still great. I finally decided to open my eyes and get an early start, only to be greeted by Isabella staring at me dreamily. At first it was a bit uncomfortable, then I found myself staring back at her and it felt pretty good, and then I realized she had just zoned out. So, I quietly made my way to bathroom, I had to pee it had been waking me up for the past hour. On the way back, I glanced at the clock, seeing I still had five minutes until everybody woke up. I wasn't looking forward to today, it just felt like it was going to be a bad one. I'm tired of having bad days; I just know something is going to happen to ruin this experience. Then he remembered, putting Isabella's bow on her head and how they shared a "moment". Then for the first time in his life he drifted into Isabellaland, even for just for five minutes.

Adrian's POV

The alarm screamed in my ear. _God, I hate that thing._ Everybody started to move, taking turns to go in and get ready. It had been another day, with little luck finding Ferb or fixing anything else. The ladies went first, and even though Buford started to smell, we decided to be "gentlemen". Phineas and Isabella were already ready, and went off to eat breakfast. I paid no mind to it, I had no interest in seeing my parents fall in love, and I just wanted to get my parents back, the ones already in love. Julia hopped up; I could still see the fairy tale dreams in her eyes as she held Angela's hand.

"Good morning, Adrian! How'd ya sleep?" she asked in her usual peppy tone. It always had a way of making everybody in his family happy. His father nearly broke down at her selfless attitude and smile. He hugged her first every day, and that didn't bother me or Angela because our hug followed shortly after. We had the greatest life imaginable.

"I slept great, Julia." I feigned happiness, my night had been filled with nightmares of all the stuff I saw my alternate father do. Julia proceeded to tell me about her dream, with a special fairy tale ending of dad coming in and telling us we had fixed the timeline. Then we all ate ice cream and went home. She told me with such enthusiasm I almost believed it. Angela had left to shower and stuff, with Julia following shortly behind. I now waited anxiously for my turn, the horrible smell of Buford's pits starting to get to me. As soon as it was the boys turn, we all rushed the door, but I got there first. I gave all of them an evil smile and the tongue as I slammed the door shut.

"Oh, I needed that!" I said happily as I left the bathroom. I had to jump out the way of Ferb, while ducking under a punch from Buford. Despite everything, I was starting to like hanging out with everyone even though I really wanted my family and friends back, this was an experience he'd never have the opportunity to do this again. I entered the cafeteria to see Phineas and Isabella sitting there talking and laughing. Their plates empty, I grabbed some pancakes and sat down next to them.

"Mind if I join you?" I asked as they gave me a funny look, but then accepted me into their conversation. They began to tell me wonderful stories of all the impossible things they've done, from the world's coolest coaster to traveling around the world in day. My parents had time traveled on more than one occasion and even went into space. I was amazed, I also felt like I had been outdone. I told of all my adventures, from building a fort on the moon to sky diving off Mount Everest. They stared at me with eyes wide open, Phineas scratching his chin at all the ideas that were coming up. I'd only been to space once; they've done it multiple times and travelled through time. _I'm never messing with time after this._ I had not interest in it as that is the reason I got put in this situation. It was fun, talking to my parents without **talking** to my parents. I felt I could be more open with them since they understood, I also thought it was funny that despite all of Candace's efforts she had failed to bust them. _Yep, that's ole Aunt Candace._ Me and Isabella even compared some of the patches we had acquired over the years. I came across my reckless endangerment of life patch and Phineas remarked, "Yeah, I think you are gonna need to be punished for this in about twenty years!" We all shared a good laugh but soon the good times ended and we had to get back to work.

"Aha, I finally found him!" Baljeet yelled triumphantly and we all gathered around the screen, not knowing what to expect. We waited, and just like Phineas's file, Ferb's file eventually loaded up.

_Name: Ferb Fletcher_

_Position: CEO Fletcher Industries_

_Products: Double-sided Production of Peace time Goods and War time Goods_

_Currently: Gun Production_

_Spouse: N/A_

_Next of Kin: Lawrence Fletcher_

"Well, at least, this isn't much of a shock." Ferb said as we all turned at him, "This is a wartime scenario and I would have been forced to produce weapons that would ensure the safety of this nation." _Wow, I've never heard him say so much._ We all had to agree that since this world was plagued with war everybody would have to do _something._ It was also nice to see he was still a mechanical genius.

"Sensors indicate that he's alone right now, so we should transport him immediately!" one of the fireside girls said while reading what was on her monitor. I looked at Baljeet and nodded, and watch as an older version of Ferb materialized before our eyes.

Fletcher's POV

It was the strangest thing a person could experience, being in one place one minute and another the next. _How convenient would that be?_ He asked himself as he made a mental note to try and build one when he got back. What he saw after everything regained focus was hard to fathom. _A bunch of kids?_ He thought to himself before he realized who they really were. He didn't have any idea who the first three were, but he recognized his childhood friends.

"G-Guys? What's going on here?" I managed to say and a small boy who looked the same as Phineas but with black hair walked up to him and explained what had happened. I couldn't help but notice my younger self standing happily next to Phineas. _You won't be smiling when he ruins your life._ I hated my brother for what he did to me, but as Adrian continued to explain what was going on the more it made sense. Every day felt _different_, like it wasn't natural. He could never forgive Phineas for what he did, but maybe he could erase it from history and the two could remain brothers. _Maybe I could erase the event that turned him into a monster._ He hated what Phineas had become, not what he was. He hated Phineas for his actions and not his responsibilities. Adrian continued to tell me about the alternate future and it sounded so perfect with me happily married and with kids. He told me about the room and the watches and I was pleased to see I was a mechanical genius regardless of time. I stood there as silent as I had been when I was kid, as I listened to son of the man I hated tell me that my life was a lie.

"We have a time machine but according to, uh, you" Adrian continued, as I looked over to get a thumbs up from myself, "It's twitchy and could destroy all life as we know it in the universe!" He made it sound so cut and dry.

"Let me see it." I grunted as I ducked down into the inner workings of the machine. Time Machines were not a toy; I had found that out the hard way. Bad things happen when you mess with time. He could see the problem, it used Polaryon Crystals for power, and they had cracked under the pressure of the time change.

"Unfortunately, there are no more Polaryon Crystals in existence," I explained, "the military put all of them into a space weapon that got destroyed by the Russians during the onset of the wars. All the crystals are in space now." I noticed the younger version of Phineas get that look on his face.

"And no, you don't know what you're gonna do today because the minute you lifted off you'd get shot down!" I screamed at him angrily. He looked at me, a little frightened at first, but now he gazed upon me with a sad, puzzled look. I tried to apologize but was cut off when he asked me,

"What happened to you Ferb?" This angered me even more.

"You happened to me, Phineas. And it's not something I'd prefer to talk about right now. So shut up and take the apology for what it's worth!" I replied hastily, earning a rather evil from Phineas. I calmed down and kneeled down at him.

"It's not you, Phineas, its my Phineas. He did something to me, that no man can ever forgive. Something I will enjoy erasing from history." I explained which seemed to calm his nerves. I could tell they all wanted to hear the story but I was in no mood to explain. I saw Adrian and some others immediately start typing away to see if that's what had cause the stitch. Much to everyone's dismay, but to the happiness of the two brothers, it wasn't it. Something had changed the timeline before that.

"Well, like it or not, we need to find out where the stitch happened and fix it." Adrian said, his eyes never leaving the computer screen.

"But for that we need a time machine" Baljeet added in. Phineas, Ferb, Fletcher, and the others all looked at each other.

"I guess I could try to fix the stupid thing, it might take me awhile though, so we might want to try and find a different one." I replied, sarcastically thinking to myself, _Yeah because everyone's got a time machine these days._

"Phineas and I will look for another!" Ferb added. I looked over at him, and envied the days when he still loved his brother. They truly did love each other and they told each other everything. Everyone else was soon given a small task to perform and I immediately got to work on trying to fix the time machine. I didn't want any more questions to be asked, didn't want anybody else prodding into my life. I was still very sore about what happened all those years ago, it had changed me and how I view my brother. At first I had pitied for the accident, and then he took everything from me. Then I filled myself with rage for him, and kept my distance from him to avoid any unwanted conflicts. We haven't spoken in years, but all that is supposed to be lie, right? It was never supposed to happen, and its never going to happen if you can just fix this machine, Ferb. I worked endlessly, trying to think of a good power source to fix the machine, but the crystals were the only thing strong enough. The rest of the world seemed to fade from existence and it was just me and the time machine.

"You stupid piece of junk!" I finally cried out in frustration, hitting the machine out of frustration. Nothing he had tried had worked, it was a flawed product. A prototype not ready to be used, it wasn't supposed to work right. It just wasn't finished and without the crystals, nobody was getting anywhere.

Adrian's POV

We were all so busy, hopelessly hoping for the older Ferb to fix the time machine. I had gone through history with a fine tooth comb, much easier when a history is full of violence and bloodshed, instead of peace and arguments. Sure it was horrible, but entertaining reading. I couldn't find anything and I could tell Fletcher had little luck when he screamed at the time machine. Things were looking hopeless. I glanced over, hoping for Phineas and Ferb to offer some sort of reprieve. They looked up at me with the same expression of their faces._ Well, we better think of something._ Even little Julia was beginning to grow tired of this "game", I head Angela trying to calm her down in the corner. I couldn't bear to see her like this. I decided to walk away and try to drown out the silence.

"Hey, Flynn's alone right now" Adyson finally broke the silence. No one had decided to check on him for awhile and I was immediately.

"We still can't teleport him away think of the marines!" Buford added, as I walked closer to the screen. Fletcher took interest to this.

"Marines?" he asked. I stared at him blankly, but then informed him of his "ex-brothers" career choice. Instead of being one of the politicians responsible for this, or one of the gun producers inventing weapons, he had decided to stand with those who fought. To die at their side rather than at the side of "lesser men"

"You didn't know?" I asked, finally curious. He turned and looked at me.

"Well, I knew he had joined but never figured he'd have lasted this long. I thought he was in prison." He replied before going back to work on the time machine. I gazed on the screen; he'd been in Danville for two days already. I must have lost track of time, since it didn't seem possible for two days to past that fast. In reality, three days had passed since he got fed up and turned off the monitor. Afterwards, it took everyone so long to do something and time must have flown by when they got to work. I looked at my watch and realized that Fletcher had been here for a day already.

Fletcher's POV

I spent an entire day, wasting my time with the stupid time machine. I decided to look in on the children's adventure and it shocked me when I saw that they'd been at this for four complete days already. Upon hearing Adrian state that Phineas was a marine was a genuine shock. I honestly didn't think he'd last in the Corps but you live and learn.

"All right everybody, we're gonna call it quits for now, get some rest. We transport Flynn here tomorrow!" I heard Adrian called. Soon, he came to guide me to my bunk and I laid down to rest. Tomorrow, I'd face the man I used to call brother and I honestly didn't know how I would react.


	10. The Hero of War

**Phineas and Ferb: A Stitch in Time**

Chapter Nine: The Hero of War

(I always imagined this chapter with, Rise Against-Hero of War in the back ground, I disagree with a lot of the lyrics in that song but it seemed to fit what Phineas has become in the alternate future. If you've never heard it, I'll put the lyrics down at the bottom since I'm not good at weaving the songs into the story) (This takes place during the same time as the previous chapter and is told primarily from Phineas's POV)

Captain Flynn's POV

I got off the plane and was immediately greeted by a huge welcoming committee that my sister had arranged. I was going to be staying with her for the next few weeks. It had been too long since I'd been in a civilized world and I didn't have home. I always slept where the Corps told me to sleep. Candace was ever too eager to greet me as I got off the plane. I was in my dress uniform, with my medals pinned to my chest, it really meant a lot to Candace that wore it and I always felt good in it anyway. I walk in, still carrying my huge backpack full of my essentials; to all of the people I had called family and friends my entire life. Candace jumped on me, hugging me, tears coming down her eyes.

"Phineas! I'm so glad you're ok!" she said while smothering me, "When I heard you got shot I was so worried about you. I was afraid I'd lose my little brother." She finally let me go and I could see that she had been crying for a long time. Jeremy soon walked up to greet me as well.

"Its ok, Candace, I'm fine," I replied and as I shook Jeremy's hand, "How ya doin, Jeremy?" He looked at me; he had a sparkle in his eye, a sparkle that Phineas saw in everyone's eyes when they saw him in uniform. They were so proud of him, and for what? Phineas could accept being proud of any other soldier but him, they were the heroes. The only thing that kept Phineas going was the desire to die, but he wouldn't let anyone know. He was a coward.

"Oh me, I'm fine and my law firm really is flourishing." He responded, heartily shaking my hand. The evening was spent at a, "Welcome Home" party, fitting for any soldier. I was so proud that my town was so patriotic, supporting our troops while protesting the war. These were some of the only people who understood, that soldiers didn't want this war, the politicians did. But that in itself was a lie, when Phineas was concerned. He loved it; it filled the empty gap in his soul. They say the wounds of war never heal. They were nothing compared to some of the wound Phineas had, he could cope with war but not peace. He would rather live in complete chaos than deathly silence. Silence makes one think too much about things that should be thought about. I feigned relief in front of all my friends. Baljeet, Buford, Irving, all of them were so happy to see me. Buford looked upon me with fear for the first time in my life. It made little difference to me, what they thought. I only had one thing on my mind though, getting back to the war.

The Next Day

I awoke, in my childhood room. It brought back good memories and bad ones. Ferb hadn't come to the party, and I couldn't blame him. He had woken many times during the night, screaming the names of those that had died. _The dreams are worse than the actual fighting, _I thought to myself. I decided to take my shower, taking care not to disturb my nieces and nephews. Today was going to be a memorial service for my unit, and I left the house after hastily eating some cereal. It was beautiful, there was only one thing missing from the pictures. Phineas took great care placing the empty rifles up in their proper stance. People began to show up, including Candace who was a bit worried about Phineas, but none of them had the heart to stop him. I gently placed a helmet on each rifle, and pulled out a copy of my dead friends dog tags. I say I'm an emotional monster because I don't feel anything. The truth is I feel everything later, when all is quiet and there is nothing to keep me occupied. I felt the effect of Gunny's death start to take its toll, as I placed his dog tags on the rifle. _You're a marine, damn it. Not here._ Everyone had gathered and taken their seats, reserving one for me. I signal for the priest and announcers to pay respect to the dead. Everyone sat in silence, and I stood there, not moving an inch the entire ceremony. I could hear some children break down during the ceremony and even though he felt his emotions returning, he stood there perfectly disciplined. Then as it came to the end, he saluted each and everyone, stopping at Greg's rifle the longest. Everyone watched, as Phineas departed with the same expression that he had entered with. _That was the least they deserved_, I thought as I began to walk to the nearest restaurant. I was hungry, but I was stopped by a few bystanders, all interested in the war. I shrugged them off, found my seat and ate. The entire time, thinking of all the things I had done. He didn't deserve their pride, he enjoyed killing. He was responsible for the death of both guilty and the innocent; he'd even beat an innocent man to death for insulting one his soldiers. _I don't deserve the respect that Greg and the others died for._

After that I returned home, hastily. Not wanting to talk to about the war anymore. He hated how ignorant civilians could be sometimes, but it wasn't their fault. It was because the news industry had become so corrupt, all war boiled down to was numbers. I sat down on the couch.

"Hey, where'd you go?" Candace asked worriedly. I looked up at her, she knew what was wrong. The only one who knew of Phineas's break downs was Candace, and he wanted to keep it that way.

"I grabbed a bite to eat, and then I came here." I replied bitterly my eyes refusing to leave the screen. Jeremy walked in and sat down next to me, some of his wife's worry had rubbed off on him. I explained to him what had happened and we all began talking about the ceremony. It wasn't the easiest thing for me, they stayed off the topic of me putting the finishing touches and standing up the entire time. Then Jeremy asked me the question that I had grown to hate, I'd always avoided answering.

"So, what was it like over there?" he nervously asked. My eyes shot at him, I had had enough of that question.

"Its nothing but numbers." I coldly replied," Isn't it? Its not about faces or names anymore. Its about the numbers, how many of us died and how many of them died. How many wounded, you don't need to know that the man that died was good friend and a better man than the pop start that gets a moment of silence. That's all it is, cold, calculate numbers." I finished angrily through gritted teeth. I left them there, with their mouths wide open. I quickly changed into my civilian clothing, throwing a spare pistol in my pocket for protection. That had become routine with the rise in crime and war in the world. I called a cab, and went to the nearest bar. I walked in, and gazed around. I saw friends drinking for fun, teens trying to get their first little taste, and some of the scum of our society. I sat down and the bartender walked over to me.

"What do ya want?" he asked rudely.

"Two shots of Jack, straight up." I told him. He looked around looking for my friend before handing me the alcohol. I tapped my glass against the other one and said, "Well Greg, heres to you" As the hours began to slip by, I felt myself slip further and further into madness. Every single moment, was coming back to me, every shell, every death, everything. I couldn't understand why I managed to walk away every time without a scratch. I continued to drink, fully knowing what I was capable of as I continued.

Candace's POV

"Way to go, Jeremy!" I slapped him and he raised his hands in defense,

"What? I didn't think he'd mind!" Jeremy replied, looking confused. He didn't understand that Phineas has been torn in two since the accident. When he was ten it was like his soul got ripped in two, the first being an over-emotional form of Phineas and the other being an emotionless monster.

"You don't understand Jeremy!" I yelled as I threw down my wash cloth. He looked over at me to see my sadness. I just got my brother back and he's already gone.

"Then help me to." He pleaded. I shook my head; I had promised Phineas that I wouldn't tell anyone. If anyone found out he would probably be thrown in a mental institute and lose command of his squad. He just let out an exasperated sigh and walked out, leaving me there alone to cry. What could I do? I had learned to leave Phineas alone when he got home. Phineas had better chances on the battlefield than at home. If she could do anything to help him she would but all she could do is wait and worry.

Later that Night

Me and Jeremy had made up after we put our children to bed. However, midnight was approaching and there was still no word from Phineas. Jeremy sensing my anxiety, walked over and took my hand.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he's fine." He said, smiling at me reassuringly. I smiled back but quickly went back to being scared.

"How can you be su-" I began to say but was cut off by him kissing me quickly on the lips.

"He is a Marine." He said grinning. Just then we heard the door open, and I ran to the front, and Phineas collapsed in my arms. I could see bruises and blood, but it was clear that he had done this to himself, with some form of patriotism keeping him from suicide.

"Phineas, what the hell happened to you?" I picked him up, feeling myself start to tear up. I could smell the liquor in his breath.

"Why do we do this?" Phineas asked between sobs. I looked at him, and saw all the feelings that he had shut out during combat. It broke my heart.

"Why do we go off and fight? Why do I leave without a scratch when better men die horrible deaths?" he pleaded with me, trying to find some sort of understanding.

"I'm responsible for deaths of hundreds of people Candace, even women and children. Why… why are you so proud of me?" he kept muttering why into her ear. Tear flowed from my face; I looked at Jeremy who immediately left to give us some time. I desperately wished I knew the answers. I longed for the days when he built amazing things that made him and the world smile. He blamed himself for doing things that he had been ordered to do.

"Shh, it's not your fault-" I began to say, stroking his hair. He cut me off.

"It is my fault. I _love _my job. I _love_ watching the light leave someone's eyes but when I get home everybody calls me a hero and a good man. All they see are the medals and the scars but it's not true, I'm a bad person, Candace." He managed to say in between breathes. She had always known that he had a sick love for his job, but regardless he was still a good man, willing to die for his country. He _was_ a hero.

"But Phin-" I began again just to be cut off.

"I should be the one dead right now. But instead it's all my soldiers. Why can't you guys be just as proud of them? I'm sick and tired of receiving all the praise for something another person died doing, a person whose last moments were spent crying out to god and the world for help. Why can't I help them?" he continued rambling.

"Phineas listen to me," she began to say, staring into his red eyes, both of them were crying now," you did what you have to do, those men died for the same thing you're fighting to protect." I continued in between sobs.

"And you are a good man, a good man who kills so others don't have to. That listens to their best friend as the bleed to death so we don't have to. You _are_ a hero, Phineas. Nothing can take that away from you. And I have just as much respect for those who have fallen as I do for you" I began to hold him, feeling him sob, crying on his shoulder. _The war isn't going to kill him_, she thought to herself, _peace will._

The Next Day

Captain Flynn's POV

The nightmare only got worse. He saw every single face of every man, woman and child that he had watched died. It only made things worse that Jeremy had seen him break down like that. Matters would only get worse as the months rolled by. _I'm not gonna make it._ I didn't even expect to last the day. My head pounding, my stomach turned upside down. I was seeing two of everything in the room. I noticed a little note next to the nightstand with a glass of water and two aspirin next to it.

Phineas,

Went to take the kids to camp, I'll be back around 3:00. Here's something for your head.

Love,

Candace.

He didn't deserve her kindness but it was greatly appreciated. I gulped down the water and took the pills, waiting anxiously for their effects to begin. After awhile, my head clear and I decided to dig through my knapsack. I pulled out the war trophies first, old weapons and medals I had collected first. I then pulled out my first 45 pistol. _You never forget the first._ He'd gotten that shortly after enlisting; he had etched _Isabella_ into the side. He also pulled out an American Flag that they had given him. He looked at both and immediately knew what he was going to do today. He went to store, bought some tools and wood. He spent the day building a display case, and painted a beautiful shade of brown. Then he took great care and respect folding up the flag, of which he placed in the case. In front of it, he set his first pistol, facing where everyone could see _Isabella_ etched in it. _Perfect._ I pulled out my "War book" and proceeded to put in my new pictures in it. Candace made me do it for years and I never understood why but it had caught on. He pulled out a picture of him and Greg, and with great care, place it in his Those we've lost section. I single tear managing to escape my eye at the thought of life without my best friend.

"Watch you six, Devil Dog." I whispered as I continued to unpack my things. I was so caught up I never noticed Candace entered the room.

"That's new, did you make that yourself?" she asked as she walked up to gaze up _Isabella_ in all her glory.

"Yeah, I needed something to do and it just clicked." I answered making sure to look sincerely in her eyes. She looked upon the gun and her smile quickly faded.

"Isabella, wow, that was so long ago." She muttered, trying not to let me hear it. But I had.

"Yes, yes it was" I replied sadly. Then the world around me began to change and I was surrounded by kids.

Rise Against-Hero of War

He said, Son,  
Have you seen the world?  
Well, what would you say  
If I said that you could?  
Just carry this gun and you'll even get paid.  
I said, That sounds pretty good.

Black leather boots  
Spit-shined so bright  
They cut off my hair but it looked alright  
We marched and we sang  
We all became friends  
As we learned how to fight

A hero of war  
Yeah that's what I'll be  
And when I come home  
They'll be damn proud of me  
I'll carry this flag  
To the grave if I must  
Because it's flag that I love  
And a flag that I trust

I kicked in the door  
I yelled my commands  
The children, they cried  
But I got my man  
We took him away  
A bag over his face  
From his family and his friends

They took off his clothes  
They pissed in his hands  
I told them to stop  
But then I joined in  
We beat him with guns  
And batons not just once  
But again and again

A hero of war  
Yeah that's what I'll be  
And when I come home  
They'll be damn proud of me  
I'll carry this flag  
To the grave if I must  
Because its flag that I love  
And a flag that I trust

She walked through bullets and haze  
I asked her to stop  
I begged her to stay  
But she pressed on  
So I lifted my gun  
And I fired away

The shells jumped through the smoke  
And into the sand  
That the blood now had soaked  
She collapsed with a flag in her hand  
A flag white as snow

A hero of war  
Is that what they see  
Just medals and scars  
So damn proud of me  
And I brought home that flag  
Now it gathers dust  
But it's a flag that I love  
It's the only flag I trust

He said, Son, have you seen the world? Well what would you say, if I said that you could?


	11. Family Feud

**Phineas and Ferb: A Stitch in Time**

Chapter Ten: Family Feud

Isabella's POV 

Despite all my protests, they still transported him. I had no desire to see my Phineas with battle scars. It took awhile for it to register in his mind, but after awhile Flynn began to remember us. He gazed on at us with a look of pure shock, much like the one's some of us had been wearing. Then his eyes came across me and froze. It was like he'd seen a ghost, and everybody noticed this. It made me shudder to think what must have happened to him to make this way. I caught a glimpse of older Ferb as he entered the room, and then he did something none of us expect. He charged up and jumped on Phineas, and it wasn't friendly. We all froze not knowing what to do. It was clear who had the upper hand as Phineas came around on top of an already bloody Ferb, continuing to beat him mercilessly with hate in his eyes. I took a look over at Phineas and Ferb who now watched, jaws dropped as they watched their older selves fight. It wasn't until Adrian had the nerve to stop them that we finally found the strength to stop.

Captain Flynn's POV

Being taken from my family and thrown into a room full of strange kids aside, Ferb had no right to jump on me. He had instigated a fight with a marine. I was on autopilot, countering and deflecting each of his blows. The rest of the world disappeared as a caught Ferb with a good left hook. I could have let it end there and a part of me wanted to. But I was filled with so much rage; I continued to beat him, my knuckle growing raw with each thunderous blow. Blood now gushed from Ferb's body and he tried holding his hand up in defense. Then a small child jumped in front of Ferb, a stupid but brave thing to do.

"Hey, this isn't helping anything!" the black haired boy said. There was something familiar about this kid, maybe I had seen him before. My anger cooled off, and I felt the inner flame begin to die down. I nodded, and several of the kids scrambled to get my brother to medical attention. The more, I calmed down, the more I remembered. I was surrounded by the friends of my youth, even some that weren't still amongst the living. I looked down upon the black haired kid who had the same sparkle in his eyes as everybody else. But inside, I saw something deeper… I saw a hero. I've seen enough heroes in my day to know this kid had the potential for greatness. I sat with my usual expression as he explained to me what had happened. Considering all the things I used to do it didn't seem as farfetched as others might have considered it. I asked little questions, it felt like any other briefing. I felt a little pathetic though, being briefed by a ten year old. I'd been briefed by many people in my life, and few people could get the point across like this kid.

"The only problem is-"Adrian tried to explain but was cut off as Fletcher fresh out of the aid station with a few fireside girls smiling triumphantly behind him.

"Their time machine runs on Polaryon Crystals." Fletcher finished. At first I felt compelled to hit him again, but since he was dedicated to peace I was too.

"Well, that won't do. I can knock a few heads around in Corps headquarters, see if I can get anything." I offered, several kids looked up cheerfully, but Fletcher had the same cold look on his face.

"No, we don't have room for mindless brutes on this team." Fletcher replied through gritted teeth. I could sense the added tension, and everyone had to have noticed it. Things were getting a bit uncomfortable as I felt my control begin to slip. _He's still sore about what happened to Vanessa._

"Ferb, that was an accident-"I began to explain but he cut me off, "Like hell it was." It was my first covert ops mission in the Corps; I was only eighteen still naïve in the ways of war. They were clearing out a small village which had been massacred, women and children lay decaying in the streets. We were following up on reports of two Doofensmirtz in the area. We secured the town and building with little difficulty and then I had the most difficult decision anyone could make, thrust on me. Behind each of two doors, was a member of the Doofensmirtz Imperial Family. My commanding officer told me to pick one and he'd take the other. A simple decision, I choose the right, kicked down the door and sprayed anything in the room. It was until afterwards that I had realized what I had done. I shot and killed Vanessa, the love of Ferb's life. Ferb had never forgiven him, never even gave him a chance to explain.

"Listen, Ferb-" he tried to cut me off again and I got angry and threw him into a wall, "NO! Listen, I was eighteen and I was following orders. We marched through that god forsaken town, the bodies of women and children lay dead in the street. All that blood on Doofensmirtz's hands."

"Vanessa never supported her father, she-" Ferb tried to replied but I cut him off this time.

"Than why was she there? Why was she at the scene of the crime Ferb?" I asked with hate in my voice.

"Her father forced her to, if you hadn't shot her we would have been together!" he screamed.

"Did you love her Ferb, I mean truly love her?" I asked through gritted teeth. He stared back at me with just as much hate in his eyes.

"Of course I did" he whispered with hate, and I threw him down on ground.

"Then why didn't you make her stay? Why I didn't you protect her?" I spoke as Ferb's expression changed from anger to a state of shock, "Why did you let the girl of your dreams march to her death?" I walked away not hearing him mutter, "Like you did a better job…" I wasn't in the mood to deal with this crap. I marched out into the mess hall and sat in silence. None of the children dared to come close to me, all of them afraid of me. And they should be, I am a monster. After awhile though, Ferb walked up to me, much to my dismay, and apologized. Not for blaming me but for blowing it out of proportion. I just stared at him.

"I can never forgive you for what you did, but if we do this, maybe we can both forget….everything." He spoke, his eyes glued to the ground. I turned towards him, it little irritated by his ignorance. However, this was overshadowed by my curiosity.

"What?" I asked, quizzically. Fletcher drew in a huge breath.

"These kids, the ones you don't recognize from all this, come from a time unscathed by all this. A magical, wonderful time where we work for the better of all of mankind," I listened on as rambled on about the fairy tale land. Most of the time if it sounded too good to be true it probably was. But it explained everything, including the family resemblance between him and Adrian. It soon dawned on me that Julia was my daughter, and she had broken down at seeing her father turn into a killing machine. I excused myself for awhile and Ferb immediately understood. It was a stitch in time; something had been altered after their trip around the world, something that had completely set the universe on a collision course. It had ruined our lives. I came across that little seven year old still holding on to her bear, her innocence. I apologized, and explained what had happened, sparing some of the more gruesome details. She smiled and threw herself into my arms and for the first time, in a long time, I felt something other than sadness and pain. As I held that ignorant little seven year old girl, I felt _hope_.

Adrian's POV

I was a little twitchy watching that man go near my sister, but upon seeing her smile I realized everything was fine. That no matter what timeline they were it, he was still her father and that was enough at least in Julia's eyes. So, Flynn accepted our offer to bring him on bored. Half of him was probably eager for another war to fight. There was still one problem; Fletcher couldn't fix the time machine. Flynn asked around and everyone he talked to confirmed that there was not a single Polaryon Crystal in existence, it was hopeless. We fell into a mild state of depression, just staring at each other for hours on end. Despite all the amazing things accomplished, by everyone in the room, we could do a single thing. I had failed myself, I had failed my family, but most important of all, I had failed my father. We sat, for hours that lasted years until Flynn finally broke the silence.

"Wait a minute, hey Baljeet, come here a second." Flynn ordered as he signaled Baljeet to walk over to the monitor. We all gathered around to see what he was doing.

"You think you could handle digging through some military files? I'm not so good with computers anymore." he asked and Baljeet quickly hopped over, eager to help.

"All right, use my marine authorization code; it should get around most of the firewalls. The strong ones any way." He spoke and Baljeet typed hastily as Flynn rambled on the numbers of his code. We watched as Baljeet shifted through files at a hundred miles per hour. I flashed my sister a _wow, what a nerd_ look and she gave me her usual _respect your elders_ look. So we gazed on as the tiny Indian boy raced through high classified files.

"What are we looking for?" I finally asked, a little fed up at how long this was taking. Flynn glanced at me, and then brought his eyes back to the screen.

"I think I might know of another time machine we could use… but we gotta find it" he replied hastily. We all looked at each with our hopes finally looking up. It was good thing we didn't listen to Isabella otherwise we'd be dead in the water.

"But, Phineas, even if we do, odds are the Polaryon Crystals are burned out, they don't have long life spans." Fletcher added. I noticed both Phineas and Flynn looked up at him at the call of their names, it must be really confusing to hear you name without being the one called.

"Yes, but Ferb, not all time machine's are made of Polaryon Crystals," Flynn continued with Fletcher's face lighting up as he came to the same conclusions," The museum!" they both spoke together. It was like they were brothers again.

"But the time machine was destroyed by that Russian missile strike." Fletcher added, his hope dimmed for awhile before Flynn added, "But it used some extremely rare African crystals and if I remember right, there's a D.U.I. around there." He replied.

"What's a D.U.I.?" Fletcher muttered a confused look on his face. _Driving While Intoxicated, Duh!_

"It what we marines call a Doofensmirtz Universal Installation, very few have been built. They serve as hubs for the Doofensmirtz Empire." Flynn explained. I could see Fletcher flinch a little at the name "Doofensmirtz" but he quickly shook it off. Flynn found the page, it turned out that Doofensmirtz was mining the rare ore and was researching ways to weaponize it. They failed, which resulted in the execution of all the teams and the placement of the skeleton crew to protect the "worthless" diamonds. The marines had been looking for an excuse to capture it but due to pressure on the Russian front and the fact it was so far behind enemy lines they had called it off. We all spent time arguing about it. It was a dangerous mission, and Flynn and Fletcher both agreed it was the only option. After hours of deliberation, we finally agreed that this was our one shot. It was now or never, since it was probably that USMC artillery barrage would soon demolish the area.

"All right, if we're gonna do this, I'm gonna need to get us some heavy support." Flynn commented as he began to walk away, one of the fireside girls foolishly asked. Flynn took one long look at her and said, "No, Marines!"

"Wait, it's already late!" I yelled as I looked at the clock. Everyone else's head turned at the same time. Their eyes widen at the sight of the time. We all agreed that we would do it in the morning. Then Flynn gathered me, my sisters, Phineas, and Isabella to a secluded portion of the base.

"I bet you guys are wondering how I got this way." He said dryly. None of us had the heart to ask, or the heart to turn him down. I myself wanted to know, but I knew that Isabella really didn't want to spend too much time with this other Phineas. We just slowly nodded.

"All right, you'll come with me, and I'll tell you the story, afterwards we'll go and see if we can get some marines on our side." He replied to our silence. I felt a little knob in the back of my throat.

"But first, I'm gonna have to stop by Candace's, and I want you to stay out of sight. There are some things I'll need to collect. Don't tell anyone, this is a family matter." He whispered to us in the most serious tone imaginable. But Ferb peaked over a corner.

"Could I come to?" the young, green haired british kid asked with sincerity in his voice.

"Sure you can Ferb. Even though I haven't thought of you as brother, I guess you always will be." Flynn answered, patting Ferb on back. With that he sent us to bed, but none of us would sleep though, because tomorrow we would find out what changed Phineas from a happy- go lucky ten year old with everything he wanted, to a steel-hearted, suicidal marine.

Author's Note

Depending on how long I decide to make this, I will probably release one chapter every two days during the school week, and release probably around two chapters per day on the weekends. I hope you've enjoyed it so far, and hope you'll keep reading. Read and Review, please. Thanks!


	12. Flashbacks

**Phineas and Ferb: A Stitch in Time**

Chapter Eleven: Flashbacks

Adrian's POV

It had been a long restless night for Adrian. He had spent the entire night thinking, plotting, and of course imagining what type of thing happened to change him into a marine. Only one thing stood out to me, the fact that there is almost only one thing that could cause such a massive personality switch, the death of a member of the family. You don't mess with a man's family, it's just a rule. Take away a man's family and you truly have taken away all he has to live for. But then why not just commit suicide, why join the Marines? Maybe, he wanted his death to make a difference or maybe he wanted to make sure no one could go through what he went through and experience his pain. The pain was there, it only took a skilled eye to see it. Then again, anyone could notice it they spent enough time staring in those deadened blue spheres of color. Eyes are truly the window into a man's soul. What dark secret did him loge into the darkest crevice of his mind to avoid insanity and did he succeed. Or is the man that looks like my father, criminally insane? He was a murderer in a sense but he was a marine, a dog from hell, whose mission is to destroy all threats to the United States. To destroy all threats to his family. I groggily rolled over to see Phineas and Isabella had the same luck as I when it came to sleep. They both lay there, staring blankly at the ceiling. No doubt they were thinking the same things I was. This week had to have been hard on them, to go from having fun everyday to spending each aching minute trying to fix the timeline. To fix their future, but still it seemed like a thing that would test a man's sanity. I mean, some random kid running up and telling you he's your son? Finding out that you marry your childhood friend, and if not become an emotionless monster. I wondered if my sisters were awake, so I gently stuck my head up. I was greeted by the pleasant snoring of both my sisters. It was something they had inherited from Phineas. I smiled as I noticed the similar pink bow still tied to Julia's head. Isabella had given it to her after she lost her orange one. Julia had cried for hours over that stupid thing and, much to Phineas's dismay, Isabella was willing to part with the bow she had worn her entire life to make her daughter happy. It didn't really make a difference as Phineas was quick to get her a replacement. _I got to stop calling them by their names; otherwise I'll get in trouble!_ I thought to myself. Today was sure to be a hard day, but I couldn't wait to get started.

Its funny how fast time can move at one instant and how slow it moves another. The last two hours had felt like weeks to Adrian, yet while finding away to fix this mess, hours went by like minutes. It must have something to do with whether or not your brain is occupied. I had spent the last two hours driving myself insane over the Captain Phineas thing. I had answered the question every way I could but I still needed to know. The alarm rang, and I bolted for the bathroom, showered, and got dressed in record time. Phineas, Isabella, and Flynn were right behind me, apparently as eager as I. It must feel good to Flynn, to know that he can release his burden soon, even if it's only to his "family". Ferb and Fletcher lagged behind but still went through pretty quick, and soon everybody was ready. Fletcher went off with Baljeet to do more research on the facility, while everybody else went off to accomplish rather worthless mundane tasks. Flynn was wearing his "military" civilian clothes, with desert camouflage kakis and a light green T-shirt. Of course his boots were flawlessly cleaned, with their brightness nearly blinding me in one eye. He signaled for us to come with him on the pad, and we silently obeyed.

"Gretchen, set the co-ordinates to the following locations, then transport us to the first and when I give you the signal, transport us to the next." Flynn ordered, showing no hint of emotion in his face or in his voice.

"But, Captain, the second co-ordinates are a gra-" Gretchen replied, in a silent and sad voice. She was quickly hushed by Flynn, who merely put up his hand.

"Yes, sir." She answered as she sadly pressed the button, and our surroundings began to change. It was even weirder than time traveling; at least there was a buffer zone before you arrived at the allotted time. With this, you were sort of just there. It was a little bit of a shock, but we managed to shake it off ok. I recognized this as Aunt Candace's house; I wondered how she was different in this timeline. Everyone was different, it wasn't a wonderful feeling but it was definitely a unique experience. Meeting all of the people you know, yet meeting entirely different people.

"Stay here, and stay hidden, I shouldn't be long." Flynn whispered under his breath as he guided us towards the bushes. The less attention we drew the better and Flynn quickly went off to get whatever he needed to get from the house.

"Where's Daddy going?" an oblivious Julia asked, it was something she had also inherited from her father. I quickly reminded her that it wasn't dad, but in the end I had to convince her it was his twin.

"Ok, then where is Daddy's twin going?" she then asked, one eyebrow popped up. Sometimes, I suspected that she always knew more than she'd let others believe. Maybe she played these games to help us feel better. To help us conquer our own fears.

"He's going to get some stuff Julia, but he'll be right back. I promise." I replied flashing my usual grin which seemed to calm her down a little. So, we sat and waited for the man who looked like our father to return.

Flynn's POV

I had dreaded this morning since the moment I decided to tell them the truth. I'd never told anyone who never knew my secret. No one other than Greg, and he died over a week ago. Greg had been the only other man he really trusted with a secret. A secret I held on to more dearly than my life, which I would gladly trust in the hands of any marine. I know Mitch and Mikey will join on just fine, but Richie, Zach and Johnson might be a little hard to convince. However, many of these men had serve in my squad for some time, and are extremely loyal to me. As long as I explain things right, they'll be willing. If not, I'll just go to F.N.G. corner and get some eighteen year olds ready for their own personal war. I'd spare a few details but overall I'd tell them everything they needed to know. Now all I was worrying about was Candace. How would she react? I couldn't tell her the truth, couldn't tell her why I'm taking this mission. She'd think it's another suicidal delusion and probably decide to turn me in this time. She is my sister and even though I don't show it often, I love her. I'm gonna have to tell her that this time, and this time I'll mean it. For it will be the last time I ever see her, regardless of whether or not I die. But I was going to die; of all the missions around the globe this was going to be my last hurrah. But I couldn't do it without my old friend, _Isabella_ in my side holster. I walked up to the front door, feeling the pressure start to build on me. I'll just tell her I'm being redeployed and make up some bullshit Russian cover story. I knocked on the door, and an angry Jeremy opened to face me.

"Hey, where the hell have you been? Candace has been worried sick!" he shouted, a little louder than he'd intended since Candace busted through and hugged me, planting a quick kiss on my cheek, relieved I hadn't killed myself.

"Sorry, I got called away. The Russians are making a move on the African border." I began to explain and I saw their jaws drop, and their hearts sink. It wasn't pretty but it had to be done.

"You're going back downrange? To the war?" Candace replied shakily. I nodded slowly, feigning sadness as best I could. This surprisingly enough fooled her, and I almost thought about telling her the truth but my heart quickly turned back into stone.

"I'm here to get my uniform and equipment, and then I got to report to my CO for further orders." I explained as they both gawked at me, not believing what they had heard. Candace interjected, a little mad that my promised leave had been cancelled.

"Things change, Candace. I'm a soldier, I go where I'm told to go. War changes things, one day you can be living your life as a civilian and the next be holding some man's intestines in your hands screaming for some form of divine intervention. I have to go, I'm sorry Candace." I spoke as I slipped past them and went up the stairs to my room. I packed up everything I thought I would need, my combat uniform, my combat boots, knife, canteen, M. (Meals Ready to Eat, Rations), and lastly my first pistol. I opened the little box so lightly; a mouse would have slept through it. I gazed upon the gaudy silver pistol I had purchased in my youth. The first gun I bought when I "enlisted" shortly after the accident. I rubbed my hand over it; remember all the times he'd had with her. So many people he had killed with it, so many near death experiences. One stuck out in his mind, and he decided that he would share that with his "family". I holstered the pistol, mentally preparing for both the physical and mental battles ahead. Becoming a rock, to ensure nothing would ever hurt him or his family again. Whether or not he cared to admit it, Adrian, Angela, Julia, Ferb, Isabella, and Phineas were his family. And you don't mess with man's family, more importantly you don't mess with a marine's family. I threw my back pack over my back as I had done every time I deployed and when I reached the bottom of the stairs I saw Candace talking with my nieces and nephews. They were all lined up waiting to say goodbye to me, and to bless me with prayers for safety.

"But he just got here!" one of them cried but was quickly engulfed in Candace's embrace as tears ran down her eyes as well.

"I know, sweetie. But he's got to go away for awhile. He'll be back soon I promise." She said, as she turned to face me. I stopped and hugged all of my nieces and nephews before hugging Jeremy. Then I turned towards Candace and squeezed her the longest. This was the last time I would see my sister.

"I love you, sis. Thank you…for everything." I whispered as I let go, she was now sobbing uncontrollably. I walked towards the door with same dignity and pride that marines walked with. Then I paused and turned back towards my family. I admired them closely with my eyes, before offering them a salute. Jeremy and my niece and nephews weakly returned the salute, and Candace just continued to break down. I turned around and walked out the door.

"Hey, what took you so long?" Adrian asked when I finally got back into the bushes. I shrugged him off, clicking on my comm.

"Gretchen, you ready for transport?" I asked, ignoring Adrian's question. Isabella took one look at me.

"Don't you want to drop that stuff at base first. That looks kind of heavy" she remarked in rather quiet voice. I hadn't really noticed, marines were in such good shape that it never seemed like a burden. The backpack melded with and became part of me. I simply shook my head, not ready to speak until I knew what I wanted to say. The words started to flow into my mind, just thinking about it made me sad and nervous but it had to be said.

"Aye Aye, Captain." Gretchen's peppy voice rang over the headset.

"All right. Engage!" I replied, I couldn't help but mock a star trek accent. One of the rare times I could pull off such a thing. The surroundings changed, and we found ourselves surrounded by graves. The others must have sensed this because they sat and silently followed as I made my way to a specific grave marked with a star of David in the background of the writing in the stone. I finally found it, waves of emotions began to flood me, and I began to swallow them back down. Everybody had a look of minor shock on their faces, but Adrian had figured it out. We read the tombstone:

_Isabella Garcia-Shapiro_

_June 1__st__, 1998-June 22__nd__, 2010_

_Loving Daughter, and honorable Fireside Girl_

_Rest in eternal happiness_

I couldn't help a tear slip out of my eyes, as I began to tell my tale.

_Twenty Years Ago_

_Shortly After The Events of Summer Belongs To You_

_"I also feel bad about Isabella, I mean, I know she had fun but there was just something a bit wrong with her. She seemed __sad__." Phineas chatted with his brother. His brother proceeded to subtly give the, __You're the most oblivious person in the world__ look but even then Phineas didn't get it._

"_Ah well, we can do something nice for her tomorrow. I still need to recover from today. I can't believe I nearly lost my cool like that." I said, thinking back to those crucial moments. My dreams had been crushed; I'd never travel around the world or do anything for that matter. I wondered where I'd be without Isabella, who had helped me reclaim my dream. She was the most wonderful girl on the face of the planet but I felt something more for her. I'd crawl through fire and brimstone just to see her smile. I wasn't used to that feeling of the jitters yet, I couldn't understand it. But I knew what it was, it had always been there but I had failed to see it. I loved her, but I could just tell her or ask her out. There is no way she'd go for me. I just wish there was some way I could make her dreams come true as she had made mine come true. Then it hit me._

"_Ferb, I know what we're gonna do tomorrow!" I spoke up, snapping my fingers, grinning like a maniac, "Isabella is gonna love it!" Ferb rolled his eyes to this but I knew it would work. Tomorrow, we would build a device that would allow you to experience your dreams. In privacy of course but it was the least I could do for Isabella._

_I couldn't sleep much, I was filled with dreams of Isabella, and I felt awful about her not having the best time. I got up extra early and decided to start building. By the time Ferb got up I was almost done. He stepped out, wide eyed, a little irritated that I hadn't waited for him._

"_Sorry bro! but I had to get this done, it was driving me crazy," I said refusing to let my eyes leave the blowtorch, "The mental interface isn't ready yet, so you can finish that if you want!"_

_ "Fine, just give me my wrench!" Ferb replied, still feeling a little betrayed by this. They quickly finished and awaited Isabella to arrive with her cute little catchphrase. They heard some rattling and a huge bang in the back yard and rushed to see what was happening. There was a sweet scent in the air, it was butterscotch? Phineas couldn't get around it._

"_What do you think it was?" Ferb asked._

"_I dunno but it smells nice, and the machine looks ok!" I said quickly noting no visible damage._

"_Hey, where's Perry?" Ferb asked, but I quickly looked over to see Isabella walking in._

"_Who cares?" I whispered under my breath to Ferb, mesmerized by how beautiful she managed to look every day._

"_Hey Phineas, Whatcha doin?" she asked in her normal peppy attitude. I smiled, she always had good way of doing that._

"_Actually, waiting for you to get here," I said as I took her hand, blushing a little on the way, little did Phineas notice she was blushing too._

"_Really?" she asked excitedly._

"_Yeah, I want you to test out our new machine!" I replied, not noticing her smile fading a little. Then I noticed a disappointed look on her face._

"_But don't get sad, you see this machine will let you live out your dream!" I spoke revealing the product like a sales person. Isabella quickly accepted, hoping it was some sort of big confession game but even if not she'd get to live her dream for awhile. I smiled, pleased with myself that I had managed to make the girl of my dreams smile. I looked over at Ferb._

"_All right brother of mine, throw the switch!" I order enthusiastically. He flipped the switch, and at first everything was going perfectly. Isabella was enjoying herself in Phineas-Land, and no one on the outside could notice due to the privacy filters he had installed. He could see her enjoyment on a "Fun'o'meter" they had installed to make sure everyone was having a good time. The pressure lights all rang green and I stood there, in awe of what I had created. I always made the most amazing things out of love. Love is the only true motivating factor in the universe. Even revenge started out with love. Of course, Phineas should have paid more attention after the noise earlier. For in reality, one of the pressure screws was loose and began to buckle under the pressure. The readings began to go sporadic, but me and Ferb had installed fail safes._

"_All right Ferb, we better shut it down." I said worriedly. After awhile I heard a warning siren, the pressure was building up to critical levels and a meltdown was going to occur. Despite all the safeties, Ferb was powerless to stop it. I stood there frozen, in shock. Then I heard her scream my name._

_ "PHINEAS!" she screamed with nothing but terror in her voice. I had to do something._

"_ISABELLA!" I yelled as I ran, Ferb tried to stop me but was too slow; I dashed straight into the machine. I tapped in the override authorization codes, and gained access to the user interface. Miniature explosion spewed metal all over the place, one scrapping the side of my arm. Blood began to ooze through my shirt, but all that mattered was Isabella. I grabbed her, feeling her heavy breathing on my chest._

"_Hang on!" I screamed over the explosions as she gripped tightly across my chest. I ran faster that I had ever run in my life, carrying a human being. The machine exploded but I was clear, I set Isabella down and she smiled at me. A wave of relief swept over me, but that was all contained in a single moment, right before her weak smile falteedr and she collapsed. One of the metal fragments had lodged itself into her chest. Crimson blood stained her pink dress. I watched as my entire world flew upside down. My inspiration, my happiness, and the love of my life were dying and there was nothing I could do._

"_Call 911!" my voice squeaked, hoarse with all the sadness and rage. Why didn't I double check the machine? Why was I the one who escaped unharmed? Why does Isabella have to die, what did she do? I futilely called to my friends for help, they did. Candace called mom, Ferb called 911, and Perry had just decided to show up._

"_P-Phineas…"she whispered weakly as the last ounces of life began to fade away. I pulled her in close to hear her._

"_I…will always…love you…" she managed to mutter. It was the happiest and saddest moment of my life. It quickly became more sad, as the fact that I had failed to notice her feelings for me began to penetrate my already weakened mind. She loved me? How could I not notice? I hated myself for not telling her and the whole world that I had fallen in love with this woman. But I figured this was my last chance._

_ "Isabella…"I spoke, gently holding her hand. But as I gazed into her eyes, I watched the light slip away. I was too late, and the girl of my dreams died not knowing how I felt about her. (Flynn: One of the reasons I enjoy watching the light leave someone's eyes, it fills a gap that was left in the moment. For one small instant, I'm with her again.)_

_ "No, no…" I muttered, as Ferb stood there in shock and Candace started crying. I lost it. Tears now flowed freely from my face._

_ "NO!" I screamed as I began to perform CPR. It was a futile effort, but I had to try._

_ "NO, Isabella you can't die like this!" I screamed as I pounded on her chest, pausing to press my lips against hers to breathe life back into her lifeless body._

"_Phineas…" Ferb and Candace said sadly as Ferb put his hand on my shoulder._

"_SHE'S NOT DEAD! DON'T SAY IT!" I screamed angrily at them as they jumped back I turned towards Isabella," You-you can't be dead, you can't without knowing that I love you too" It had finally dawned on me. She was gone, I collapsed, crying, angry at myself and the world. Because of my stupidity I had lost the love of my life. I had failed her. The next week was a blur, the funeral, explaining what had happened and dealing with a heartbroken Vivian who now hated the Flynn-Fletcher family. I had begun to shut out all good emotions; my life was now emptiness, anger, and pain. Ferb tried to help but it only made things worse. Much to the neighborhood kid's disappointment, I refused to build things. I would never touch a wrench again, never fail someone like that again. One long day of crying and I decided enough was enough. I walked out, fully expecting not to see that room again._

"_Where are you going?" Ferb asked raising an eyebrow._

"_None of your business." I replied bitterly. He turned towards me, with sincerity in his eyes._

"_Phineas, you've got to stop blaming yourself for Isabella's death. It wasn't yo-" Ferb spoke reassuringly trying to be a comforting brother. But I couldn't hear it, not now. Not after I had lost so much._

"_Don't even say that Ferb, you may be hurt because you lost your best friend. But I…" I spoke as I felt the tears begin to surface again, "I lost so much more. You can't understand. I should have died that day." I stormed out of the room and down the town. It was solid overcast, the day matching the types of feelings that flooded me, and I was tired of this existence. Tired of the nightmares, and the guilt, tired of knowing that I should be the one dead right now, and most of all tired of knowing I had failed the one person that matter most to me. My reputation had spread throughout town, I could attain any item that kids weren't normally subjected to. And I had found the right one for me, a 45 caliber 1918 silver-colored colt. That would do the trick, which would end my suffering._

"_Aren't you a little young to be buying a gun?" the clerk asked staring at me. That was a stupid question and I was sick and tired of answering it._

"_Yes, yes I am, now shut up and give me the gun" I replied angrily, the store clerk gave me the evil eyes,_

"_Say please." He asked putting up an indignant look. I had no time for these games._

"_Just give me the god damn gun already…" he continued to stare at me, apparently missing the cuss word I had used, " please" I finished through gritted teeth._

"_No problem, here is around fifteen shells, use them responsibly." He finished as he handed me the items. _

"_Don't worry, I will." I muttered as I slowly made my way out of the door. I thought long and hard about where I wanted to end my life. I finally decided the park would the best, remembering the time me , Ferb, and Isabella had had a picnic there. I cried as I remember her smile, her laugh, her face. I sat down on the bench and pulled out the pistol. It was awkwardly big for me, but I only had to use it once. I loaded the shells, and cocked the gun. I held it up to my head and prepared to die._

"_I'm sorry, Isabella." I muttered, then I gently began to squeeze the trigger._

"_You don't want to be doing that, bro." a voice came out of nowhere and grabbed the gun. I became filled with range, I wanted to shoot him but he had my gun._

"_No need to explain. You've lost the love of your life and want to die or something like that?" he asked. I answered with a silent nod. My eyes still red from the tears._

"_Do you think whoever it is would want you to do this? NO! They'd want you die making a difference!" he slapped me as he tried to talk me out of it. I thought about it and Isabella wouldn't want me to kill myself over what happened. As a matter of fact she'd want me to go back to making the world a better place. But I just couldn't, I had tried, I had faced this argument before and failed yet again. I was nothing; I'd rather be dead than live without here. I slowly nodded. He could see the pain through my eyes. This wasn't you ordinary stuff, this was once in a lifetime stuff. Losing your true love type of stuff._

"_Lemme guess, you've though about it and decided you don't give a shit and rather die?" he asked, his language startling me. I nodded._

"_Hell, what's your name son?" he finally asked after taking a few moments to debate about the situation._

"_Phineas Flynn." I replied sadly._

"_I tell you what, whoever you lost would want you making a difference, and you would be fine with that but you think death is a better option. What if I told you there was way to do both," he explained as I lifted an eyebrow, "What if your death saved the lives of another. What if you joined the marines and died defending your country." I thought about it, it was like having the cake and eating it too. I could fulfill both my needs to make my family safer and my needs for suicide. I would die for my flag, and be laid to rest with the heroes of our society. I'd be a uniform, just like Isabella and the Fireside girls. Just like Isabella._

"_Sounds good to me sir!" I replied, and he smiled at me._

"_I'll make sure you get assigned a combat division if you promise me you won't kills yourself with this first." The marine explained the terms of the deal. He was apparently one of the higher ups on the chain of command and had dealt with suicidal marines. It was a privilege and an honor and I shook his hand and took back my gun. I was going to throw it away; I had no further use for it. So I would go on living in pain and hating life, but the prospects of an honorable death would motivate me. I would have to become emotionally detached from my friends and family, to ensure that nothing would stop me from meeting death's icy embrace. I still had no use for this thing._

"_Keep it, you can take it with ya when you go downrange. See in a couple years kid!" he hollered at me and I waved. I thought long and hard about what I would do with it. I watched a lot of war movies while I was gone, trying to understand what I was going to do. It looked like the perfect thing for me, a way for an emotionless monster to fulfill his anger by killing and dying for his country. I also noted that soldiers sometimes carved the names of people closest to them into their guns. I had finally realized what to do with the pistol, and I snuck back to my house, and into my room. Ferb, sound asleep, never noticed me. So, I carved the words that had had the biggest impact on my life, the most important things I had ever heard. Then I placed it under my bed, not to be disturbed until the day I joined The Few, The Proud, The Marines._

Back in the Future

I looked on at them, noticing the tear streaks that stained their faces. I reached up and felt my own face. Without realizing it, I was crying as well. The salty taste penetrated my mouth, and I took in a huge breath. I pulled out my pistol and handed it to Isabella.

"Read it" I said dryly. She looked up at me with her red eyes, at first to protest but then she submitted. What she saw next made her cry even more.

"Isabella" she read, shakily, tears dripping all over the gun. I slowly turned it over in her hands.

"I will always love you" she finished reading the carvings. Those were the most important words Flynn had ever heard. And it wasn't until many years later, that they had meaning again.

Author's Note

Sorry bout the long update time. I hope your enjoying the story. The next chapter will be another flashback sequence but with Phineas as a marine sergeant defending the capital of America from a Russian invasion (A little bit of COD:MW2 I had to throw in their. Also there will be one line from Brothers In Arms: Hells Highway in the next chapter, see if you can find it) realizing the true meanings of the words behind the pistol. Also, good or bad feelings, feel free to share your thoughts.


	13. Remember Washington

**Phineas and Ferb: A Stitch in Time**

(Note: This chapter has pretty much nothing to do with the rest of the story, it merely provides another look at Flynn's history, more fighting, and more marines. This is also my "Montage" to all lot of my favorite video games. So for those of you who want some more backstory and violence, read on. If not, skip this chapter.)

Chapter Twelve: Remember Washington

No POV, Backstory

Shortly after US forces began to pull out of the Middle East, evil scientist Heinz Doofensmirtz moved in and united the Middle East. Establishing the Doofensmirtz Empire, which launched a terror campaign around the globe. Shortly after invading Europe, the use of nuclear arms was approved but shortly before hand Doofensmirtz Imperial Forces managed to capture and detonate an experimental French weapon. All nuclear arms in the world were disabled, and until scientist could work around the problem, conventional warfare was necessary. Instability in the Russian government caused a Doofensmirtz war lord to gain control of and turn the Russians to aid Doofensmirtz. On June 21st, 2022, the Russians launched a surprise attack on the east coast of the United States. Major defense systems were down and inoperable due to the implantation of Doofensmirtz Imperial Drone. With a majority of the American fighting force on foreign soil, it fell to trainees and soldiers on leave to spill the blood of their enemies on their own soil. Marines, Rangers, airmen all were called to fight. All were called to defend their country.

Sergeant Flynn's POV

Another deployment, another war to fight. Ever since that day in the park, I've been looking forward to dying in combat, but in the three straight deployments nothing had happened. This time was different, this time it was America. I looked around my HUMVEE, and in it a mixed breed of American fighting men. The only face I recognized was Greg's since he was visiting me and my family during our leave. I shook my head, trying to relive some of the pain that had been brought on by last night. Sitting with Greg, in a bar, recounting our stories and telling my secret. He was the most understanding person I'd ever met, and he was my best friend. Behind me sat, and Army Ranger and fly boy airmen. Though, like I said this was different. This was the home front, this time the shells would go off in our homes with our civilians in the crossfire. I loved war, the sense of exhilaration and the pleasure in watching somebody you've come to hate die. It's easy when you're trying to die. I thought the fact that the war was brought to us was pretty convenient. No more eight hour flights or long waits in silence. Just a drive to the coast and here you were. I knew I was the only one who thought so, so I kept my mouth shut. I looked at my two new comrades, all of us nodding at each other. Mentally preparing for what was about to happen. To the Ranger, we were all Rangers, to the airman, we were all airmen, and to me…well to me we were all marines. Our units were all mixed up due to suddenness of this invasion.

"Alpha One, this is Command. Do you copy?" a voice spoke over the intercom. Finally, some information.

"Yes, this is Alpha One, go ahead." Greg replied. Technically he was of higher rank due to some trouble I had gotten in over in the Middle East. Someone insulted one of my marines and I punished him. Command didn't see it that way though.

"Those bastards are hammering evac sites all over the District Columbia area. " I glanced over at Greg, both of us realizing it was the capital the Russians were hammering. "We've got members of the 75th Ranger Regiment holding out at the Washington Monument but they need assistance."

"Roger that, command. Alpha One is Oscar mike to the Washington Monument Evac site. ETA, fifteen minutes. We'll show those assholes what happens when you mess with America. Out." Greg replied, as everyone in the HUMVEE let out a patriotic cry. The sounds of the battle were not getting closer, and it sounded like we were getting our asses kicked. Our radio frequencies were all jammed together so we could hear the screams of the soldiers. They were fresh out of boot camp, some of them. Not ready for their first foray into combat. Not like this. We began to get closer and out of nowhere an enemy APC approached us.

"BRT! Get the hell out!" Greg screamed as we frantically busted out the jeep. Bullets tore apart that vehicle and the unfortunate airmen who buckled his seatbelt.

"Shit, we'll have to go around." I whispered to Greg.

"Guess we're walking." Greg muttered as he signaled for us to follow.

"How much farther do we have to go." The Ranger whispered as he began scanning the area. I glanced over at Greg, who gave me a tired look. We'd be walking a long way, through what was definitely enemy territory.

"All right, Flynn take point," Greg ordered before adding, "Keep your eyes open." He was treating me like a cadet and we'd been serving together for years. This irritated me, but he was doing his job. It was his job to make sure I got out of there alive. A job I hoped he'd fail. I lifted my gun, aiming down the sights sweeping left to right as I slowly moved across the street. I glanced over, Greg was using the standard issue M4A1 with an M203 grenade launcher, and the Ranger lifted his M249 SAW with a red dot sight. I was using my favorite weapon, the M16A2 Service Rifle with no attachments. I always preferred old school sights, I never understood people who thought otherwise. I'd also preferred its three round burst to full automatic or single fire. We came up to a house. I stuck my head in and out, terrified at what I saw. An enemy tank was moving up the street, and Greg soon came up to me.

"What is it?" he asked while the Ranger and he continued to scan for targets.

"They got a tank moving up the road…we can go around bu-" I began to say as I pointed out my plan when out of nowhere the SAWs deafening sound boomed through the air.

"Contacts! In the building to right!" he screamed as he continued to empty his clip into the building. I looked over, moving my rifle. I saw a man shoot out from cover, and I quickly dispose of him with one burst. _I love this gun._

"Damn it! We've got no cover here!" Greg screamed over the roar of gun fire, as ricochets began to flurry past us. The enemy had dug in and began to return fire. I looked across the street, noticing an office complex that would provide perfect cover for them to get out of there.

"We got run across the street!" I yelled as I sprinted across the street, firing my rifle from the hip as I went.

"What the hell?" Greg hollered after me before tapping the Rangers back. The ranger was screaming over his weapon and hadn't heard me.

"Hey, where getting the hell out! Lets move!" Greg screamed before a bullet blasted dirt into his eyes, "Shit!" He ran, wiping the irritable substance from his eyes, the Ranger following closely behind. I kicked down the door, moving through the building with my rifle pointed straight in front my. My heart echoed in my ears as my adrenaline rush began to kick in. My breathe echoed through the empty halls, but I kicked down and cleared every room. A moment of silence ensued as Greg and the ranger met up with me in the center.

"Hell of a way to start the day!" The Ranger muttered, trying to catch his breath after carrying the bulky machine gun. Just then the building seemed to fall apart as I was flown across the room. My ears ringing, I could hear the muffled screaming and the gunfire.

"Flynn!" Greg screamed, as he reloaded his M203 grenade launcher.

"GO!" The Ranger screamed before unleashing his machine gun. Greg ran over to me, and checked me out. He was amazed that I had gotten out unscathed since the enemy tank began firing into the building.

"Shit, we got to move! Ranger!" Greg screamed looking over to see only the smoldering remains of their Army friend. He wanted to go check on him, but grabbed him, forgetting my rank.

"Forget him, he's gone!" I screamed as I pulled Greg out of the building which was now falling apart around us. We sprinted as far away as we could, ducking into buildings any time the opportunity showed itself. We came across another building, and Greg stopped me.

"We're close," he whisper, I looked at him with a _thank you captain obvious_ look, the sounds of the war were getting closer, "the evac sight should be on the other side of the building. Let's go." Greg brought up his rifle and slowly moved outside. A foolish move considering the circumstances, but after scanning for targets we slowly began to move up. I kept my eyes open, focusing on the slightest bit of movement. I noticed three enemy troops, and stopped Greg.

"I got a visual on three tangos." I whispered as I pointed to the Russians.

"All right, move up and wait for my command." Greg replied as we slowly began to move up. Stalking our prey like a wild animal, I position myself behind the remains of a wall. It offer moderate cover and allowed me to rest my gun on the rubble.

"I'll take the two on the right." I whispered to Greg, who had to agree. I was the better shot, so I zeroed in, mentally taking the shot several times.

"Ready, fire when ready." Greg mutter, and I took a deep breath. We squeezed our triggers at the same time, Greg quickly killing the man on the left. My trigger pulled and I heard –click-

"Shit! Jammed!" I screamed in a whisper, quickly hitting my release buttons. The two other soldiers began to return fire at us, I ducked behind cover while still trying to un-jam my rifle.

"Damn it, that one bastard got an RPD." Greg screamed at me, I glanced over my cover, with several bullets impacting the areas around my face. Spewing rocks everywhere, one of them had a perfect firing position. The other man nowhere in sight. It was a textbook maneuver, find em, pin em, flank em, finish em. The other man was flanking us, and I noticed a huge flaw in my plan, my position offered little rear cover. Greg looked at me, wide eyed, he had apparently come to the same conclusion.

"What the hell do we do now?" he screamed at me, not used to being in charge of me.

"You've got an M203 right?" I asked, staring at his gun

"Yeah!" he replied nodding.

"Then use it!" I finished, slapping a new clip into my M16. _You better not jam on me this time._ I heard the familiar pop of an M203 grenade launcher, a scream, and then reasonable silence. I slowly rose from our position, once again scanning for any movement. I found it, a slight shuffle of clothing, and a change in pigmentation barely noticeable to the human eye. I zeroed in and fired two burst and felt a sick rush come over me when I heard the screaming. I forgot all about Greg, and I ran to the source of the screaming. He called out to me, but I was in my own world. I turned the wall to see the russian there, clutching his gut muttering his own prayers in his own language. He looked at me with pure fear and terror in his eyes and his hands shakily went up. But it was people like him that were responsible for deaths of so many of my friends, so many marines, and so many of _our_ civilians. I pulled out _Isabella_, the 45 I had purchased in my youth, and fired one clean shot to the head. Greg stumbled over to me, tripping on some rocks on the way. He just stared at me.

"Come on, let's get back to our squad." I muttered as we began to run towards the sound of gunfire. I was feeling my high, my rush and I was hungry for more. Then we heard friendlies for the first time in a long time. I stepped out, but quickly dove back behind cover when our own boys shot at me.

"Hold your fire!" Greg screamed, and the other troops began to lower their rifles. He helped me up.

"Jesus, you just can't die!" Greg jokingly said as I regained my composure. We walked over to a diverse group of troops. Jarheads, Fly boys, rookies and old breed.

"Sir, have you heard anything from command?" an army private asked. We were all soldiers fighting in the same war.

"Not a damn thing. We were ordered to help with the defense of the Washington monument evac site." Greg replied, we all remained crouch, bullets still flying over head.

"The Russians pummeled that zone with artillery, no one got out alive." Another airmen interjected.

"Hell, where's the air force?" a familiar voice interjected.

"Richie, is that you?" I said as I stood up to greet him with our customary hand shake.

"Yes sir. Good to see you bastards are doing ok." Richie responded, a wide smile on his face. It was surprising how happy they could make themselves even when faced with a horrendous situation. Richie always seemed to handle it with a smile on his face.

"You see anyone else from the squad?" Greg added, worriedly.

"Well, most of them got pulled back to form a secondary defensive line, me and Dan volunteered to stay here and try to stop the Russians from taking this corner," he began to explain, "turns out all communications with command went down about an hour ago. Their lasts orders were, "Get the hell out of there." But this is the capital man."

"Hoorah." I replied. Everyone looked at me and nodded. But we had no idea what to do next. Intel had showed however that Russians had taken over the White house.

"This is Captain Marsh to any soldier who can hear me," a new voice punched through the static, "I'm assembling a task force at Whiskey Hotel, anybody who wants to stick it to the Russians is welcome. They can take the capital over my dead body!" Upon hearing that many of us cheered, ready to give out lives willingly out of foolish pride.

"Guess we know what we're doing today," Greg replied while putting on his helmet, "Semper Fi" We ran out of cover, many soldiers engaged in active combat. Out of nowhere a stinger missile hits the rear rotor of an enemy helicopter and it begins to spin out of control.

"Shit!" a soldier yells, jumping out of building the flying behemoth crashes into.

"Medic!"…"Corpsman"…"God help me!" echoed around the battlefield as we ran through. We had to keep our heads down and make it to Whiskey Hotel, aka the White House.

"Come on, let's go let's go!" I scream waving them to follow me.

"Come on guys, Rangers lead the way!" a ranger screams out of nowhere. Everyone began to mutter their branches catchphrase. Then we came across a battalion of enemy soldiers…and a tank.

"Get to cover!" Greg screams as the tank shell goes roaring past us. Sporadic gun fire and a few soldiers fall down. I lifted my rifle and began to return fire rapidly.

"God damn it! Medic!" the ranger screams, as I run over to see him holding his dying friend. The tank was tearing us apart, but we had managed to take out a majority of the infantry.

"Eat this!" someone screams out, and as I turn I see a Javelin rocket shoot up into the air, and plummet on the tank. I sigh, another near death experience. I help the ranger up to his feet, reassuring him that everything would be ok.

"We got to keep moving!" Greg mutters as we all began to resume our long run to our objective. Everyone around me was tired of this, and wanted out. I wanted the opposite; I wanted to die defending the White House. It would be a fitting end to my life. So, on we ran, avoiding enemy fire, tanks and helicopters on the way. We were soldiers; it was _our_ blood that was being spilled, _our _bullets holding back the enemy, _our_ people who were laying their lives down gladly for our flag.

"Keep hitting them! We have to push through!" we hear someone scream over the deafening noise. We quickly run up to greet our new CO.

"Are you Marsh?" Greg asks, taking big pauses to catch his breath. The man looked at all of us, and smiled like we were his best friends.

"Yes, yes I am. How many of you guys are there?" the captain. We glanced around, each one of us taking our own personal count of how many soldiers we had with us. A few of us took the opportunity to make sure our guns were fully loaded and adjusted.

"Let's see we got around twenty….no thirty men with us." Greg finally replied. The captain had a look of deep thought on his face, despite all the hell that was going on around him. I didn't envy his job, making everyday decisions that send people to their deaths. I didn't plan on living long enough to have to deal with that.

"We have to retake this building, I've got men moving through the right flank but their meeting stiff resistance, If you guys can get around the flank maybe we can win this!" the captain screamed as more bullets began to fly over our heads. We all regained ourselves, preparing for the charge. I stared on with an evil look in my eyes and then came the order. Everyone sprinted as fast as they could, it was a free for all, if you made it you lived. Then out of the corner of my eye I see the familiar flash of a 50 caliber machine gun. Bullets tore through the air, hitting some of us on our way. The Ranger I had helped got hit and flew a couple feet in the air; I could do nothing but keep running. Explosions rocketed the area, blowing up rock and the remains of other soldiers everywhere. We were so filthy, but this was war. Then after two minutes of that horrendous charge, we had reached our destination with a little cover to give us a breather. We looked around and immediately noticed that out of the thirty men we had charged with. Only five had made it. Greg signaled me to move up, and I sighed, bringing up my rifle. I opened the door silently, leading the "charge" into the white house with my rifle raised up.

"Clear." I whispered as the other members of our makeshift squad moved in. I didn't even know their names it was just Airman, Ranger, or soldier. I didn't have time to really care about names either.

"All right, Ranger. Take point." Greg ordered under his breath. Apparently he had established himself as the ranking officer. The ranger looked back at him before moving forward slowly. We silently tip toed through a building with so much history. Historic paintings lay on the ground, un-identifiable because of the bullets that riddle the paper. Bodies lay marinating in their own blood, the putrescent scent penetrating our souls.

"Clear." The Ranger muttered as we continued our sweep. He looked back at us, and out of nowhere bullets began to penetrate his chest. We all instinctively jumped to cover but it was already too late for the Ranger. I see Greg begin firing and hear the screaming of the enemy as they felt the impact of his bullets. We all looked at each, I could see the fear in everyone's eyes, and they didn't want to move from the safety of their spots, so I decided I would. I slowly made my way through the barricade and examine the four dead bodies before signaling them to move up. They reluctantly followed, and we cleared out every room we could. Not knowing what each door would lead to, but most of the fighting was on the other side of the building. Then we heard some Russians frantically screaming and falling back. They ran right into my gun fire, and we all moved up hastily. Eager to get a little pay back. We came across a squad of five Russians, their backs to us, frantically firing to pin down the rest of the American forces. Greg stopped us, and gave us the signs for another text book maneuver. We'd all throw grenades at them, and so we all unhook are grenades. He counted down with his finger, all of us pulling the pins and throwing at the same. The Russians screamed but by then it was too late, there was nothing left to save.

"Hold up, friendlies at you twelve!" I heard someone scream. It was a familiar voice.

"Richie, how the hell are you everywhere at once?" Greg asked as the familiar marine reappeared with his customary smile.

"It's magic!" he replied before turning to me with a serious look on his face.

"I got six men through ok, they are holding up combat positions along the west wing. It's only a matter of time before they realize how weak we are." He explained, and everyone turned and looks me. Now I knew how the captain had felt and I quickly looked for a way out.

"Get Captain Marsh on the li-" I began to say before Richie cut me off.

"Marsh is dead, Flynn. He got hit with a mortar strike shortly after sending you guys around the flank." Richie explained, his eyes glued to the floor. It had been a hell of a day so far, but I didn't know what to do. I never asked for this responsibility but it was thrown on me. I debate throwing Greg on the burner, since he technically out ranked me but decided against it.

"All, we'll just have to spread out and cover as much space as we can. We have to hold them back." I finally broke the silence and they nodded. Each running off to defend their own portion of the white house and when everyone was situated we waited. That is the only thing I hate about war, the waiting. Those long moments in between combat when your mind begins to race, thinking about everything you should have done differently. I had to keep myself from going bored, scanning targets was useless because there were so many targets to choose from yet so few to hit. I pulled out _Isabella_, and just held her. The pistol from my youth and I remembered why I did this every day. I did this to die and this time would be different.

"I got something!" a ranger called over the comm. I grabbed my rifle, quickly holstering _Isabella_ and scanned for targets. He was right, all the targets who once were scattered like ants, were now charging us.

"All right! We're in business!" I screamed as I began to fire towards the enemy, the sound of the enemy thundering in my ears, the screaming down the halls.

"Changing mag!" the airmen screamed, "Damn it, I'm jamme-" I heard him talking before just pure screaming.

"Want some! Get some!" The ranger screamed as he let loose with his machine gun. I ran out of ammo, switching the magazines and reloading my M16. I watched as the people began to drop in my sights, with every burst a man's life was lost. I was the instrument of their destruction. A helicopter fired a missile and we felt the building rumble.

"Enemy hind!" the ranger hollered as he began to shift his fire, hoping one of his bullets would score a lucky hit. He was wrong, and the helicopter mowed down the ranger. We were dying here, we had lost two men and a third was on the way.

"We need to get rid of that hind!" Greg screamed at me over the roar of the helicopter. I looked around, I needed an explosive launcher. I heard the pop of Greg's M203, he had the right idea but wrong weapon. Then I saw it, a Russian hunched over an RPG. I kicked the body over, grasping the RPG.

"RPG!" I screamed as I fired at the helicopter. It wasn't a difficult shot, considering the helicopter was close. It exploded in an awesome display and for a small moment we were all kids watching the fireworks on the fourth of July. Then reality sunk back in as I saw two airmen running towards me.

"Sir, they've overrun our sections!" One said, reloading his rifle.

"We need to get the hell out of here!" the other added, but this was what I was planning. My last stand.

"Then go!" I replied, not taking my mind off the battle, continuing to return fire.

"What about you?" the other asked. I looked at him and he understood, and then a Russian ran up and sprayed bullets all over the place. Somehow missing me, but killing the two men I was talking with. I lifted my gun and it jammed, and I instinctively pulled out _Isabella_ and emptied a clip into his chest. Greg and Richie ran to join me, stating that it was now just the three of us.

"Greg, you cover the right flank! Richie, take the left. I got the middle!" I screamed and we began to fight for our lives. A grenade flew through the window, and I jumped on it to save my men. Of course my luck, it was a dud.

"Lucky bastard!" Richie jokingly replied as he returned firing at the enemy at our doorstep. I was sick and tired of near death experiences. Greg realizing death was imminent hollered at us.

"It's been an honor guys!" he screamed over the horrendous gun fire. It was like those movies in Hollywood, the ones where everyone dies at the end. It gave me a curiously warm feeling as we replied. Then we heard another voice.

"Al(static) One, (static) this command do you copy?" it droned on. Richie and Greg let out a cheer of relief,

"Yeah, but we're a little busy!" Greg screamed back as he emptied his pistol into two more soldiers who ran through the door.

"Hold on, we've got heavy air support and tanks en route to your position. ETA two minutes, out." It finished. I could see the hope dim from my friend's faces, but they weren't going out silently. I finished emptying my clip and when I reached for another clip but there was none. I was out of ammo. I pulled out _Isabella _and began to fire. Then the Russians pulled back and everything got quiet.

"What the hell?" Richie muttered before Greg told him to stay sharp. Richie reached down, patting himself and checking for ammo.

"Last mag" Richie told us as we waited in fear for the enemy to return. I sat with my pistol; I wasn't supposed to survive this one. Greg glanced down at his watch.

"One minute till we get some support!" he whispered to us. I got up and looked over the window, my jaw dropped as a column of enemy tanks zeroed in on us. Shells began to tear through the building, as it began shake. Richie and Greg began to fall back but I stayed. I was fed up with this, my anger getting the best of me. I stood up and began to fire my pistol at the tanks.

"You want me, friggin take me! TAKE ME!" I screamed as Greg and Richie ran to tackle me. Then a shell exploded in front me, and I was flown into the wall. _Finally,_ I thought. But I managed to look up and I swear I saw Isabella staring at me with sad, tear ridden eyes. _Not like this, Phineas, please. Not like this,_ she said before fading from existence_._ No wonder I had survived so many close calls. I had an angel on my shoulder, and any soldier would be fine with that. But not me, I wanted to die. I stared up in wonder, as Greg and Richie pulled my weakened body back to the corpsman. I wondered if Isabella would make my dream come true one last time. _Will she ever let me die?_

Authors Note

Sorry but I got bored and wanted another action chapter and I saw another opportunity to give insight into what Flynn has become. Sorry bout not coming up with other names, but I promise that the marine action sequences in the end will have a lot more faces and personality behind the marines. Thanks!

-Violent Nerd101


	14. You want to win your war?

**Phineas and Ferb: A Stitch in Time**

Chapter Thirteen: You want to win your war? Tell it to the Marines

Flynn's POV

There, I had told them my secret, the secret that has been driving me forward for my entire life. Julia failed to understand, and I hadn't the heart to explain. Feelings surfaced for the first time in years, feelings I was looking forward to erasing from history. I swallowed everything negative and became a rock again. The younger version of me now comforted Isabella as she sat on her knees sobbing uncontrollably.

"Stop it guys!" I said in a tone a little louder and more hateful than I had intended. Everyone looked up at me, with the same puppy dog eyes. They had lost their innocence much like America had after Washington.

"Listen, it won't matter because it's never gonna happen." I spoke softly, comforting each one, for the first time in a long time I was using genuine emotion. I couldn't force a smile though.

"We're gonna fix this," I finished before adding, "But we're gonna need some help." I waited patiently for them to regain their composure and then we left the graveyard. Our next stop would be the veteran's hospital to visit some old friends.

"You got everything lined up over there Gretchen?" I asked, my voice once again returning to solid steel.

"Yep, transporting now!" she replied as our surroundings once again began to change and we were in a hospital room. The mindless beeping of the heart rate monitor proved most reassuring to the fact the Mike was still alive. He weakly turned his head to me with a look of disbelief on his face.

"How di-"he began to say but I cut him off.

"I'll explain later but first I'm going to have to tell you something and it's going to seem crazy." I explained as Mike gained a puzzled look upon glancing at my companions. He nodded and I began to explain the dilemma we were in. The entire time he had this look on his face, he must be thinking that I'm insane. That the last bullet flying my way had finally drove me over the edge. Even if he believed me, I was discouraged upon realizing that despite all the hell the world was in, Mike lead a really good life. He'd married the girl of his dreams, Gretchen the same fireside girl I had been talking to moments earlier. And despite the war, he loved his job as a marine. He wouldn't care to admit it but Mike is a great soldier. A good leader, an expert shot and even has the ability to get his hands on anything we need. We would desperately need his support.

"Before you say anything else, here is my proof." I assured him as I waved for everyone to come over.

"Ok, here are my children from the alternate timeline, and the childhood versions of me, Isabella, and Ferb!" I began to introduce them and Mike smiled and nodded at everyone. Mike just continued to stare at us, silence filled the room. I always hated awkward silences. At last he spoke.

"You're crazy," he began as I started to get discouraged, "To believe I wouldn't help my best friend!" A smile grew on his face, but I never knew he considered me his best friend. Upon thinking about it, Mike was the only other person worthy of Gunny's place in my life.

"At first, I genuinely thought you were crazy, but I have to admit those kids do look as ugly as you." He added laughing, "But what can I do, I still have three weeks to recover." My hopes faded a little but the younger me came up with a solution.

"Well, upon hearing that we'd be taking on marines, Ferb and I created a gel that will heal practically any wound!" Phineas said bright eyed with a smile on his face as he pulled the cream out of his pockets.

"You can only use it once though, any more and the chemical proves toxic. Ferb and I haven't really worked out the bugs yet." He decided to add as he handed the gel to me. I carefully applied the cream to wounds on Mikes body and watched in wonder as it began to take effect.

"Wow!" Mike exclaimed, a smile now spread cheek to cheek.

"You good, Mike!" I asked.

"Happier than a pig in mud! I'm in." Mike replied as I helped him up. We had our first marine on board. It was an exhilarating experience, like building your own army in the video games.

"Good, now you'll be in charge back at base. I trust you won't burn the place down while I'm gone" I spoke to him as he gave me a sarcastic look.

"I don't plan to, lead the way Captain!" he replied in a peppy tone he had obviously picked up from Gretchen. They were so similar in personality; they were made for each other. I can't imagine Gretchen ending up with somebody else but you never know what to expect when you mess with time.

"No need, Lieutenant. Gretchen, transport Mike to the base and remember he is in charge." I spoke through the game as Mike tilted his head to the side. Next thing we knew, he was gone in flash of light. Now I was off to get Dan.

Mike's POV 

I wonder if everyone feels a little weird after that first transport. What's weirder was gazing upon the childhood version of my wife. That's just kind of freaky; I didn't even really want to talk to her because for whatever reason it just felt wrong. I am very conflicted about this mission; unlike them I had no idea whether or not my life would be better without this. For all I know, I could be dead or worse not married to Gretchen. What if I had married someone else? I can't imagine loving anyone else as much as I love Gretchen. I have to keep these thoughts out of my mind, for I am a marine. I volunteered to sacrifice myself for the good of the country. By the way they described it, the world was a better place on the other side and even if it meant that my life would get worse, I had to fix the timeline.

"So…" I began to say but was cut off by green haired British man who identified himself as Ferb. What kind of name was that?

"So you're the marine who is in charge of things now." He spoke with his overpowering accent, and I nodded.

"Well let me show you what we have so far and we'll just go from there, I know it is a bit of a transition but you'll get used to it." Fletcher finished as he guided me through the base. It was impressive; it seemed implausible that children had built it. Man this made the army corps engineers look like children play with blocks. It had everything, but I noted that the bunk room was too small and a little too civilian for marines. We'd also need an armory. But the aid station was surprisingly well equipped.

"How did you get all this material?" I finally asked dumbfound. Fletcher merely directed me to a peculiar looking device at the other side of the room. It looked like a hunk of junk but I know better than to judge a book by its cover.

"So what's this thing?" I asked as I placed one hand on the device.

"We don't really have a name for it yet. Right now we're calling it the Matter Rearrange…er" Fletcher explained, "It simply takes something, and molecularly modifies it to be something else." I smiled in nodded, having no idea what he just said.

"You put in a pencil and you get a taco." He finally said in a sarcastic tone. I let out moan of understanding but part of me wanted to find out. I looked at him, with one eyebrow down as I picked up a pencil.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me." Fletcher sighed as I began to laugh. I punched in "Taco" into the machine and low and behold a taco is what I got.

"Are you done?" he asked. I started to munch on my beautiful creation.

"Yes, yes I am. This is all very impressive but it could use a few more finishing touches." I managed to say through the chunks of taco still in my mouth. Fletcher gave me an irritated look.

"We're gonna have Jarheads bunkering down here for at least two days. We are going to need a separate set of bunks, showers, and of course no marine base would be complete without an armory." I explained. I noticed Fletcher flinch a little at the thought of an armory. Some people got twitchy around weapons, but whether or not they cared to admit, assaulting a Doofensmirtz Universal Installation was no small task. However, since we were going AWOL technically, I decided I would wait and let each marine choose what rifle he wanted before getting my hands on the weapons. But since most US weaponry used the same ammo, I could stock the room with ammunition and explosives.

"Can we do that?" I asked, staring at him waiting for a response. I was surprised at where the response came from.

"Um excuse me?" Gretchen asked me, and I turned to face her, cringing a little on the inside. It was still very awkward for me.

"Just wanted to let you know, we've got another marine on the way. A Dan Sanders. And to answer your question, yes the fireside girls could have the modifications finished in a few hours." She explained, smiling as she hopped away. I was eager to visit with Dan, since he had got hit while making his way to save me. It wasn't an easy thing to think about, me being the only surviving member of my squad. Carl, Harry, Jacob, and Erwin were all good men. I hope to hell they rest in peace.

"Dan!" I hollered happily as I hugged my friend. He quickly returned the embrace amazed at how fast I had recovered.

"Jesus dude, I heard you were in critical condition." He added with the sound of amazement fresh in his voice.

"I was, it was real touch n go for awhile." I replied.

"Then how di-"Dan began but I cut him, explaining that it had been Phineas's miracle cream that had cured him. I tried asking him about his injuries but noted that he only had a bullet wound in his right arm, nowhere lethal. The bullet had barely managed to miss Dan's artery.

"Speaking of which, how crazy is the situation we're in right now?" Dan asked chuckling.

"Dude, I still don't understand it. I just know the timeline is broken and we've got to fix it." I spoke, and it was true. I had no idea what was going on, it was confusing. No one was going to explain it to me.

"Hey!" Dan said as he turned and looked at Gretchen and my heart skipped a beat, "Isn't that your-"

"Yeah, that is my wife as a child." I muttered through my teeth.

"Your wife was a fireside girl, holy shit." He replied as he gazed upon Gretchen with wonder.

"Hey, watch your mouth man. There's kids here." I remarked and he quickly apologized and we both agreed to keep our language G rated around the children. We also decided to head down to the mess hall and grab some grub. I didn't grab as much as Dan since I had eaten my taco but Dan was definitely hungry.

"Hey, how weird was it to see the captain as a kid." I asked Dan, as we took our seats. He was hungrily gasping down food.

"Dude, that was trippy. You notice how different they are?" he managed to get out through mouthfuls of food.

"Yeah, I've never seen the captain smile. God, I wonder what happened to him that made him this way." I replied as chills ran down my spine as I thought about what could have made Flynn the way he was. But the way he was now, he was a hell of marine. The base became filled with the loud whirring of the construction equipment but the fireside girls were happy to have something to occupy themselves. Then out of nowhere we heard a familiar laugh.

"This is so messed up! Hoorah!" Richie's voice could be heard above the noise. I turned my head to see him and Zach walking in.

"Hey, Mike! I thought you were still in the hospital!" Richie exclaimed. I quickly explained why I was alive and we were all reunited. I looked upon the rookie, Zach, and could see it in his eyes. He had changed, ever since Carl died he'd been different. Everyone had told me of his sudden liking of blood and how he'd become a pretty good soldier. His efforts had earned him a promotion to corporal. Zach wasn't on board for the mission; I could see that in his eyes also. He just wanted to get back into the war. We sat the four of us. Talking about our experienced. Agreeing how weird it was to be here.

"Hey, maybe we should go say hi to your wife!" Richie suggested smiling. Zach immediately joined in as they looked at me. I uttered one syllable, "No."

"Yes, we're doing it!" Richie exclaimed as he and Zach grabbed on to me and forced me to follow them. I resisted but they quickly had me in front of the little fireside girl operating the machine. Johnson and Harold teleported in and I pointed towards the mess hall. Their eyes widened at the sight of me, but silently walked off.

"Excuse, young maim. Are you Gretchen?" Richie asked in a playful voice. Gretchen raised an eyebrow, suspecting trickery.

"Come on guys, sto-" I began to say but was cut off by Zach covering my mouth. Since we were technically on our own, I didn't have the authorization to stop him. Besides, I felt weakened by the effects of the gel. I hadn't noticed it at first but it was there.

"Yes, yes I am. Can I help you with anything." She replied offering a stern salute that cracked up Richie. He lay on the ground rolling in laughter.

"Seriously, is there something I can help you guys with cause I'm kind of busy." Gretchen now asked with irritation in her voice.

"We just wanted to introduce you to your husband that's all!" Zach managed to squeeze out but it was so jumble by the laughter she must not have understood it. Besides, she had gotten a transmission from Flynn about more marines.

"Sorry, Captain Flynn, there are some guys here that are causing some problems." She muttered and Richie and Zach stood still in silence, staring at each other. _Busted._ She handed the radio and I leaned in close to hear.

"Just because this isn't a military op doesn't mean your discipline needs to fall apart. Now you listen to Mike and I don't want to hear shit otherwise I'll make sure your last moments on life will be hell, am I clear!" I heard Flynn's hushed screaming said.

"Sir, Yes, Sir!" They replied as Richie handed the mic back to Gretchen. Just then another fireside girl popped up out of nowhere and tugged on my uniform. I knelt down so I could hear her.

"We've finished the barracks and showers but the armory is gonna take a little more time." She said with a mild look of failure on her face. I smiled.

"That's fine; you're doing good work kid!" I replied, offering her a slight salute which see eagerly returned and ran off. I stood up and looked at Richie and Zach, still standing at attention waiting for orders. An evil smile grew on my face as I thought of all the evil things I could do to them for revenge. But I had quickly regained my coolness, deciding not to get on anyone's bad side.

"As for you two, Flynn's bringing in some new guys. Word is Peterson has had enough of the war so odds are he's not coming. I need you guys to make sure they get settle in smoothly." I spoke with a steel voice and they quickly saluted me and turned towards the transporter to greet the new marines. I walked into the mess hall, where Dan was laying down on the table. I gave him a funny look.

"Hey, you ok dude?" I asked, genuinely a little worried about him. He glanced at me before returning his stare to ceiling. He was obviously stuck in a state of deep thought.

"What do you think he's like?" he asked me in returned. What the hell did that mean?

"What?" I replied as I sat down next to him. He turned his head and stared at me.

"The other me, do think he is anything like me?" Dan asked. He was talking some deep crap here. I was never a big fan of deep conversations but sometimes things have to be done.

"I don't know, but does it matter what we think?" I replied, as he shook his head.

"I hope he makes a difference in the world. I hope he didn't make the same mistakes." Dan said dryly as he got up.

"Anyway. How we doing?" he asked me, as I tried to shake this feeling of doubt I had growing inside of me.

"We've got some newbies on the way." I replied, catching the new additions to our team appearing out of nowhere. Richie and Zach were quick to direct them as Flynn had hooked a huge batch of them. We watched as they walked past.

"Do you think they have any idea what they're getting into?" Dan asked and I simply shook my head.

"They know, but they don't understand." I replied.

"I remember when I was fresh in the military. God, I was so different." Dan spoke with nostalgia in his voice. We all changed, the military changed you in some tiny way. Good or bad you came home a different man. It was just the truth.

"Yeah, we all were." I replied and Dan stared back at me. We were sharing a moment that soldiers sometime shared. Inside our little world, we shared an understanding that civilians would never understand. We never expected them too; we just hoped that our sacrifice would fuel their quest for knowledge and not their wallowing in ignorance. We all shared a hate-love relationship with the Corps and civilians. After awhile, the line of soldiers ceased. We counted six, and Flynn was nowhere in sight so we assumed he was out trying to get a few more apples to fall off the tree. We introduced ourselves, as they stood at attention. All of them barely over eighteen. We asked for their names: Allen, John, Kirby, Ian, Josef, and Debenarrto, everyone called him Deb.

"Do you guys have any combat experience?" I asked, even though I knew what the answer was.

"Sir, No, Sir" they replied in perfect synchrony.

"Looking forward to sticking it to the Russians, Sir!" Allen screamed louder than everyone. I smiled, laughing at how naïve he was.

"That we will, boys. That we will. Hoorah." I finished and they all replied in their prideful tones.

"All right, everybody. I want you store your equipment and wait here until we get everybody assembled." I ordered sternly. They saluted and scrambled to get all their gear settled in, you never knew how long you'd stay in one place when you were in the corps. How much longer would it take Flynn to finish up, we didn't have many hours of the day left. I decided to get the ammo, since the transporter wasn't being used.

"Gretchen!" I spoke to her for the first time, and she looked up at me eager to please.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Hey, can I use this to transport some ammo and supplies while Flynn's not using it?" I asked, and she nodded and moved out the way.

"Richie, Zach front and center" I screamed as they scrambled at attention in front of me.

"I'm gonna need you guys to carry this stuff to the armory" I spoke, then another thought hit me, was the armory done? I glanced over at another filthy fireside girl who gave me a quick thumbs up. Man these kids were efficient. I typed in the coordinates to the reserve ammunition dump in South Dakota. No one notice stuff missing there. The first thing I got was MREs and water; the materials appeared magically on the floor. Richie and Zach immediately began to take the materials to the armory, grumbling curse words under their breath. It took them a little over five minutes but everything got stowed and Richie and Zach resumed their stance. They obviously wanted to show me up, in a sense that through their well being I would feel less like a man. They were wrong. I decided to get six barrels of standard ammunition, five boxes of grenades, 3 boxes of flashbangs, and of course a few flares and bayonets. I called for the rest of the marines to help with the load. I held off transporting weapons to see what everyone wanted to use. Just then Flynn's voice echoed through the headset.

"Gretchen, I've got ten more recruits ready for transport." His voice echoed in my ears.

"It's Mike, sir. Give me a minute to get the ammunition unloaded then we'll pick up your boys." I replied.

"How the hell did you get ammunition?" he asked with the evidence of shock in his voice. I laughed.

"Like I said I've got the magic fingers" I responded, signaling for the rest of the marines to hurry up. Then, I locked on to the marine's genetic signatures and transported them. Their names popped up on the screen: Ashley, Brian, Xavier, Eric, Walter, Tony, Troy, Greg, Karl, and Richard. None of them wore insignias higher than Lance Corporal.

"All right, marines. Make your way to barracks." I spoke while pointing in the direction they needed to go. They marched to the barracks in a straight line.

"Hey Eric, your sister say she miss me?" Walter jabbed at the marine in front of him.

"Walter why don't you shut the fu-" he began to say but I cut him off.

"Lets keep the language to a minimum around here!" I hollered and everybody responded.

"Yeah, I think that's all we're gonna milk out of the corps. Go ahead and get us back Mike." Flynn's voice came through in its usual steel tone. I immediately hit the transport button and the seven figures appeared before.

"Heck of day." Phineas spoke, his arm around the little girl that used to be my wife's fireside leader.

"Hoorah." Flynn replied ruffling his younger self's hair. Man, that must be weird to experience.

"So?" Flynn asked as he looked at me. I proceeded to show him the marine barracks with all the noisy recruits in their bunks, the showers, and last but not least the partially stocked armory.

"Looks pretty empty." Flynn muttered.

"I figured since odds are most of these guys are gonna die I'd let them pick their weapon of choice." I replied silently. Flynn nodded his head and then looked around.

"When you do that, get your hands on a whole lot claymores and C-4. My plan is gonna depend on it." He finally spoke with his head stuck behind a box of grenades.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, when we take that base, the hammer of the entire Doofensmirtz army is going to come crashing down on us. After all it is a research center with some high valued secrets," he explained as I nodded, "So using the C4 and claymores we're seal off all points of entry except one and that's the one we'll be defending." It made perfect sense, all DUIs were essentially small, unoccupied cities. Usually the outlying town had a division of troops and defenses but this one had been stripped of materials because of the war effort. So we'd make sure that they could only access the central bunker through one route and make them pay for every foot. Beside the crystals had monetary value, so Doofensmirtz's forces would eventually come knocking at the door. And when they did, it was going to get bloody.

"We'll probably need some sentry guns." I added and Flynn immediately agreed. I walked into the barracks.

"Richie, Zach come with me!" I pointed out soldiers I needed to help transport the equipment.

"The rest of you report to the mess hall. Captain Flynn has an announcement for you!" I hollered as everyone scrambled to get to the mess. I didn't need to be there for the "Good of the country" speech that Flynn was going to give. It was more of a morale booster than anything else. I could overhear him explaining his plan but we didn't need to know. Me, Richie, and Zach would follow Flynn to hell because deep down we knew the Flynn would be the first one to march into hell to save us. So, 150 claymores, a whole boatload of C-4, and five sentry guns with about a thousand rounds later and I had all the marines gathered in front of me.

"Now, we're going to do this organized, we're marines! You're gonna come up, tell me what two weapons you want to carry. Then you'll pick up your weapons and the pistol and stow them in the armory." I explained. Everyone murmured their agreement and we got started. Captain Flynn walked up first.

"The M16A2 service rifle, no attachments. That's all I need. I've got my own pistol." He hastily said.

"Going old school sir!" I replied as he walked off, cradling his rifle. I screamed for the next one to come up.

"M4A1, with a holographic sight and an M203 launcher. Secondary, a RPG would be nice." Richie said, and I typed in the requirements and his gun appeared. It went on like this for quite some time. A majority of the request being the standard issue M17A1 service rifle with a red dot sight, the M17 replaced the M16, it offered more reliability, less recoil, and bigger magazine. I was going with the big dog, the M60. Zach was gearing up for war, picking the M17 and a Winchester for close quarters. After all was said and done, we sat in the mess hall and talked. All the children had gone to sleep and I wondered how they could sleep with all this noise. Tomorrow night, we'd launch the operation, we'd move fast, eliminate resistance, and bunker down. Either Baljeet would break the code in a matter of minutes or days. We sat and joked around, all of us feeling like young marines again.

"Hey, do they really brand you like in that one movie?" Walter asked. The movie he was thinking about was Jarhead and it happened to be one of my favorites growing up.

"No, that's all bullcrap. "Allen replied, but he was wrong. I had USMC branded to my back shortly before being promoted to Lieutenant. I couldn't show him mine though.

"Captain, these boys want to see your brand." I screamed at Flynn, who looked at me and silently pulled up his sleeve to reveal the USMC brand on the top his right arm.

"No way! Dude I want one!" Allen replied as a few other rookies began to agree with him. It was one of the most painful things you could ever experience, but the pride and honor felt afterwards was worth the pain. You were officially a marine.

"You got earn it!" I hollered at and a few shouts of disappointment filled the room before another prideful soldier had to shout.

"You want to win you friggin war?" Eric screamed over the overwhelming noise.

"You tell it to the marines! Hoorah!" everyone, including me, replied. To quote one of my favorite movies, "We turned the inside of that…cafeteria into a circus. Because inside our circus we cannot be touched. But we are insane to believe this."


	15. The Op

**Phineas and Ferb: A Stitch in Time**

Chapter Fourteen: The Op

Isabella's POV

What an interesting week. First a trip around the world, then a visit from my future son, the meeting of a wounded marine desperately looking for a way out…of life. Phineas was madly in love with me if my death made such a difference in his happiness. This thought filled me with joy, yet if we didn't do something the world would be filled with sadness. I guess Phineas figured I'd found out his secret and while I was a little annoyed at the fact that he had failed to show his true feelings about me. Anyway, he had started to show more affection towards me like holding my hand, holding me against his chest when I was sad upon hearing Flynn's tragic story. It was happy-sad experience. The marines were staying up late tonight, but we still went to bed at our regular times. Phineas held me up before I went into the bathroom to change into my sleep wear.

"Hey." He said, his face turning a hot red. It was only one symbol but somehow it was the hardest syllable anyone has ever uttered.

"Hi." I replied, we were both smiling like idiots.

"So, what a day huh." I spoke, and I watched as the entire day flashed in front of his eyes. From his point of view, it should have been a horrible day but that's not the Phineas Flynn I fell in love with. He maintained his constant state of happiness.

"Yeah, I don't know what I would have done without you." He replied sincerely as he pulled me into a hug. I let myself bask in his warmth, enjoying the feeling of togetherness as it lasted. To my disappointment it ended and he must have become overwhelmed with embarrassment because he mumbled some

words before hastily making a retreat to his bunk. _He loves me, _I thought to myself. For a few more moments, the innocence of childhood swept back over me, and the happiness of falling in love. However, reality always has to come back to my mind. The reality was, there was no happy ever after for me. It had been erased from history, and that made me very angry. If I could get my hands on however ruined my life with Phineas I'd probably strangle them. No one comes between a girl and her "happily ever after." Nothing will stop me from making sure we succeed.

Phineas POV

_Why don't you just tell her how you feel, you know she feels the same way,_ I was arguing with myself after my speedy withdrawal from Isabella. Things were weird enough but today I had my personal life blown out into the open of everybody. I just don't want things to get weird but in all honesty I wouldn't mind dating or even marrying Isabella. She was smart, funny, cute…the perfect girl in my opinion. If only I had noticed all her hints, if only I had discovered this on my own without everybody's noses in it. We could have explored loves sweet embrace together, alone. Not now, now it's the center of our entire mission, to fix the timeline, to fix me and Isabella's relationship. I lay on my bunk, pretending to be asleep as Isabella came over and kissed me on the cheek. I bottled my urge to jump around with joy or respond when she whispered "good night" into my ear before going to sleep herself. I couldn't deny it any longer; I was head over heels in love with Isabella Garcia-Shapiro. The only question that remained in my mind was, would I ever get the guts to admit it?

Isabella's POV

The day had gone by fast with us droning on like robots. Going over the plan again and again, it was really hard to concentrate it was so boring. We would separate into six teams, five of them marines and one of them us. The marines would go in first, secure the area and perform the necessary demolition. Then we'd follow, abandoning all hope of return since there would be no one left to operate the transporter. The Fireside Girls would be equipped with standard issue stun guns in case somebody slipped through the marines and got to the base. Baljeet would crack to codes to get the crystals and Phineas, Ferb, and Fletcher would build the time machine. It wouldn't take long, but I just wanted to get it over with and get back to my life. My life with Phineas, we hadn't spoken since last night. He must still be trying to sift through his emotions but I was patient. I had waited my entire life, so a couple more days couldn't hurt. We also implanted the marines with "metal cams", all displaying at a central hub we'd set up on sight. It would help with informational purposes. The time grew near, and we began to get the equipment together.

"All right, we're going quiet." Flynn told the marines as they all twisted silencers on their weapons. Stealth was probably the best strategy for this location.

"Team leaders, state your objectives." Flynn ordered as a memorization tactic. They were about to launch.

"Alpha One, we secure the main building." Mike responded with the same steelness as everyone else.

"Alpha Two, we secure the southern section. Afterwards we perform demo and mine deployment operations." Richie replied.

"Alpha Three, we take the northern town. We set up all defensive fortifications and ammo dumps." Flynn added even though he ordered the regurgitation himself.

"Alpha Four, we do the same job as Alpha Two, in the eastern section." Zach muttered.

"Alpha Five, same with the western section." Dan said, slapping a clip in his rifle.

"I hope this thing don't jam up on me." Allen said, nudging the marine next to him.

"It should, you've been cleaning that sucker all day." Walter replied dryly.

"Remember, we don't have corpsman. So don't get hit out there." Tony added.

"Yeah, what's up with that? No medics, no air power, we're not gonna last long out there." Ian replied.

"We make do with what we have. What's the deadliest weapon in the world?" Deb spoke over everyone.

"A marine and his rifle!" everyone replied. It was game time, and the boys had their game faces on. I watched the marine observation screen as the teams vanished from existence. I watched in horror the sickening precision, the deafening silence. They communicated with hand gestures, without giving away their positions. Everything was like clockwork, and everything showed up perfectly on the screen. Including the blood when a marine came up behind and slit a guard's throat. I felt my stomach twist but I had to keep my composure in front of the fireside girls. We watched, our eyes sucked into the violence as the marines killed their targets without them even knowing they were there. Soon, some of the squads began to place their mines and charges. Considering the outpost only had a skeleton crew, the marines were doing extremely well. We'd be there sooner than anticipated.

"This Alpha One, main building secured. Feel free to begin transport." Mike's voice came through in a hushed yell.

"All units, this is Alpha Three, our area is secured. All enemy targets have been eliminated. Begin demolition at your leisure." Flynn's voice quickly joined Mikes.

"Fire in the hole!" we heard several marines yell as the explosions nearly broke our tv stations. Gretchen signaled for us to move to the pad, trying to feign the marine's professionalism as best she could. She set it on a timer, and next thing we knew, the entire world seemed to change.

Lieutenant Mike's POV

The familiar gang of kids appeared in the control room, the little Indian kid rushed to the computer, the man and two kids grabbed a wrench a began to scrounge for scrap, and the little dark haired fireside girl ran up, saluting me, stun gun in hand. I openly protested arming the children but it was the safest option, and the fireside girls were as close to military force as we could get. Since they were kids though, they got stun guns. I decided to return the salute, warranting some chuckles from the rest of my squad. These were quickly silenced with one look.

"You guys know how to defend this building?" I asked, and they quickly shook their heads. This was going to be tougher than I thought. I turned back at my squad.

"All right guys, go ahead and head up to blocking position up north and give Flynn a status report. I'll be with you shortly." I spoke to them in my hushed tone, and they nodded as they quickly jogged to rejoin the rest of our forces. I looked over at the fireside girls and signaled them to follow me.

"All right, these bunkers have four surface entry points that fall back to two inner entry points. You always keep reserve forces in the rear. If you can manage it, three at each front primary and two in each rear. Can you handle that?" I asked them, and they nodded, each running off the "secure" their own section of the base. I was about to leave when I heard a frustrated cry come from the computer lab.

"What's wrong?" I asked the little Indian kid who was crying.

"I can't break this code in time! It'll take me days, I have failed us." He bawled, and I looked at Isabella.

"Is he always like this?" I asked her and she just shrugged.

"Some days are better than others." She replied as she walked off. Man, Baljeet had some issues.

"What's going on over there, Mike?" Flynn's voice rang in my ear, and as I informed him of the situation he interrupted, "All right, but Baljeet on the line."

I handed Baljeet my headset, crouching down and feigning rest as I leaned in close to hear.

"Listen to me Baljeet, its ok. If anyone can do this it's you, and don't worry about time, we've got all the time in the world." I heard Flynn saw in between bawling and "I'm a failure" speeches. The other Phineas walked up and put his arm around Baljeets shoulder in a friendly fashion, reassuring him it'd be ok. After around thirty minutes of back and forth, Baljeet finally got back to work. _Finally,_ I thought as I slung my M60 around my shoulder and began to jog towards the rendezvous point. It was a long and tiring journey, and I immediately missed our transporter lugging this huge machine gun. At least when the shit hit the fan, I'd have the bigger gun. I got to a small outbuilding and Richie and Dan were there to greet me.

"Hey, slowpoke, what took you so long?" they asked almost simultaneously. Sometimes I suspected they shared a brain. They were like brothers, the same laugh, the same humor, and the same personality. They also had the same smile, I noticed as they greeted me.

"This." I replied pointing at my M60 as I was trying to regain my composure.

"So what we got?" I asked as I walked into a room, it had a small mess area, some bunks. They called it the R&R building.

"We're gonna have three defensive lines, one at the front of the trench. This one will be the first line of defense, if this falls we'll fall back to the second line of defense, with sentry guns covering our retreat. The second line has to 50 caliber machine guns and our stockpile of rockets. If that falls, we've rigged the entire area with as my C4 as we had. We'll fall back to the main complex and hold out there. This outbuilding is in the middle of C4 country." Flynn explained, pointing out all the things on the map. They were still entrenching the first line of defense and setting up the sentry guns but all in all it seemed like a good strategy. They were going to put down the C4 last, the last ditch effort to hold them back. We had all our supplies in designated areas along the lines. It would be a glorious fight, but first they had to get ready. There would be no teams; everybody was fighting as part of the same squad. A fight for survival, without any support, the only person you could count on would be the marine on your right and your left. Hoorah.

"All right well let's get this done." I replied as we left the building to go finish construction of our "suicidal" defense strategy.

Corporal Zach's POV

"What the hell are you doing" I asked Allen, finally fed up with him doing nothing.

"I'm in the firing position known as the sitting position. After the prone position it is the platform most likely to enable a marine to effectively kill his target." He droned on and I rolled my eyes. That isn't what I meant.

"Why aren't you helping us build the defenses?" I asked with more anger surfacing in my voice.

"I-I'm covering you." He replied with a dumbfounded look on his face. I finished placing the last sandbag down.

"Get your ass to the secondary position and help Richie. You can cover me later. I'll finish the side." I replied angrily and hastily. The private didn't move and I yelled at him. He ran off, and I went back to building barricades. Deep down, I was thanking god for giving me another war to fight. The last week with my family was rough, especially living under the same roof with my hippie brother. He actually believed that we, the soldiers, were responsible for this war. This has been the source of many violent confrontations in my household, leading to increased tension regardless of the situation. That and visiting Carl's family and his sister was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I used to think killing was the most difficult, but I had warmed up to that awful quickly. It was those moments of silence where all you can do is think that were difficult. Those are the scariest moments in my life. Luckily after this, it won't matter anymore because like it or not everything was going to change. Including me.

Captain Flynn's POV

The operation was going more smoothly than I had anticipated. We were way ahead schedule and aside from Baljeet, we had no complications. My defense strategy actually would work. The only problem being, we would inevitably be overrun. It was a delay strategy, but this time we wouldn't be delaying until relief show up. We'd be delaying until either we died or we got the time machine fixed. Today had already started on a reasonably good note, relationship wise, as Fletcher wished me luck. Even though he opposed fighting and hated me, he wished me luck. I was actually pretty genuinely pleased by that, because it was a sign of change for the better. If that was all that came out of this god forsaken mess, it would be worth it. I just hope to hell Baljeet can crack the safe before we got overrun. It was the biggest, most dangerous game of cops and robbers ever conceived. This time though, the numbers were against us. But then again, the deadliest weapon in the world is a marine and his rifle, and we had at least sixteen. That is a pretty potent little force.

Baljeet's POV

I can't fail them again, I just can't. But then again, I can't work under all this pressure. It's as if time itself is pushing down on me. My eyes race through the streams of computer data. It didn't matter how many times they reassured me, odds were that I wouldn't have it cracked for at least three days. _Stop thinking about this stuff, you're wasting time, time you don't have!_ But I couldn't help thinking these thoughts. I couldn't help thinking that people were going to die because of me.

Phineas's POV

The three of us, Ferb, Fletcher, and I worked in silence. Baljeet's distraction was gone and we needed to focus on reproducing the time machine. Adrian was in charge of comforting and entertaining his sisters, even though if we had put forth a little effort we could have made them useful. Instead we took an easier way out. The three us took some specs from "my" office and began to make modifications. One stuck out to me.

"What if we move the conductors here?" I asked as the other two looked on at and agreed that it would make the device far more efficient than before. We also decided we would put in a timer, which would allow the user to reanimate with his body at the time period, therefore protecting him from any temporal complications. It was very complicated and hard to explain but we finally had it all figured out. We began to build, this time not for fun. This time we would build for our lives. We set up the marine monitors and decided every once and awhile we'd all take a break and see what the marines were up to. Most of the time it was the same, digging, building, aiming, joking, eating, or sleeping. I also developed a taste for their rations, spaghetti marinara I believe it was. It was actually pretty good considering it wouldn't spoil at all. But most of all, I was amazed at how so many of them managed to maintain a personal life and friendships. How many of them would be dead before this over? I tried to keep the thought out of my mind, swallowing a few tears in the process. I had to concentrate and I had to fix this not for myself, but for Isabella. I'm not going to let her die again. I can't.

Authors Note

This next week I will be working on one extremely long chapter, The Siege. I will hopefully have I finished and release on Friday, It will cover the marines frantic defense of the compound over the next week. Yes, it ends up taking Baljeet a week to crack the code. But expect an action packed, marine filled adventure on Friday!


	16. The Siege

**Phineas and Ferb: A Stitch in Time**

Chapter Fifteen: The Siege

Day One

Time: 08:30

Friendly Casualties: 0

Defensive Line: Alpha

Private Allen's POV

This isn't what I expected; digging, fortifying, and then more digging. I was promised action, and I was tired of constantly being told I'd see more than enough action before this was over. My father had died fighting in the Afghan Wars and I always knew that I wanted to follow in his footsteps. Ever since I bought that little plastic M16 as a kid and played war with all my friends. It seemed like such a child's game back then, pretending to get shot and playing dead. I was eager to see if it was that simple in the real world, but part of me keeps telling me this is a mistake. That when the bullets start flying and the blood pours openly on the ground, I'll chicken out. Still, I sat there staring down the sights of my M17, resting its barrel on the sand bag in front of me to improve accuracy. It was so quiet, the only breaks in the silence was the occasional conversation between the marines. It was so boring, but the sun cresting the horizon was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. They say war is the most horrible plague of mankind, yet through war people have seen the most beautiful things. I'm not going to pretend to understand. I sat there, scanning the trees, looking for any sign of movement. I had to find some way of focusing, some way of keeping myself distracted. I glanced to my right and Eric sat down next to me, resting his rifle against some of the sandbags. He sat there for minutes before finally breaking the silence.

"Sure is quiet out there." He said, and I turned to see him eating some of his rations. This reminded me that I was rather hungry and I decided to pardon myself for a little breakfast. I opened my beet tips and gravy, a little early but you eat what you have to eat. I placed the packets in their proper places, filling the heating bag with water from my canteen. I waited for the chemical reaction to heat my meal.

"How long have you been on point?" he asked, as I began to eat hungrily.

"I pulled the night watch, I haven't eaten in forever!" I replied, through chunks of food. He chuckled at this.

"What's so funny?" I finally asked.

"I-"he proceeded to fall over on his side laughing, "I…You just reminded me of that one weird fat kid, what was his name?" I began to chuckle at the thought of our child hood "friend", well we hadn't really treated him like we should have. He always complained that he was hungry and school was going to kill him. I don't know why we found it funny, because in reality I had never laughed about him, as a matter of fact I never even thought about the dude.

"I dunno but he was a whiny bitch!" I replied, laughing with my best friend of childhood at a subject that wasn't even funny because it was the only way to pass the time.

Captain Flynn's POV

I had to admit, even though I had done it a million times, I hate drawing the night watch. With the twenty of us we had all agreed that five had to stay out to make sure that everything was ok. If anything went wrong, we'd wake up the lucky bastards who got to sleep tonight. But that sunrise…it was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. He had stifled his tears when he first gazed upon that magnificent beauty, because it reminded him of the sunset that he missed with Isabella during his world wide trip. Ever since I told the kids the truth, I can't get her out of my head. It has become more of an obsession now, and my thoughts about her have tripled since then. Still, it was a beautiful sunrise, the best sunrise of them all, and these guys deserved the best. I gazed down upon the young private and his friend, as they laughed and ate and talked about the past. They were so ignorant that death lay around the corner…but living and sleeping with death tends to numb those thoughts. That brings forth the best of a man, and those two young men would gladly lay down their life for the other. Soon enough, Mike, Richie, and Mikey joined me. I glanced at them and a huge frown grew upon my face as they smiled at me. They had gotten to sleep perfectly, their straggly, partly developed beards the proof. They hadn't even bothered to shave yet, not that I planned too. _I guess if I'm going to die I should look good, ah what the hell, I'll shave tomorrow._ They sat down next to me, stifling their chuckles.

"Hey Captain," Richie finally spoke, and I simply raised my eyebrow.

"How'd you sleep?" Mike finally interjected, bawling with laughter. It was their way of relieving stress and I had to let it go but I did shrug them off. My gaze returned to the horizon, since my shift still had fifteen minutes left. Regardless of the sunrise or not, it was still a magnificent view. I glanced over at Mikey, a Britain by birth who joined the marines shortly after the rise of the Doofensmirtz Empire. He often reminded me of Ferb due to the fact that he almost never spoke. One thing though, he was a ruthless killer and a damn good soldier. He never even complained after everyone in the company started calling him "Brit" and has even come to accept the nickname. He exposed his arm which had his nickname tattooed to his skin. Despite what he says, I know he was drunk when he got it. We sat there, in awe of the view.

"Magnificent, isn't it?" Mikey surprisingly broke sentence. It was so peaceful in quiet, and in a couple of days it would be filled with chaos and death.

"Sure is" Richie replied softly, as he shifted his weapon to rest on his hips and continued to gaze out into the horizon.

"Wish Greg was here to see it" Mike added and we all turned to him and nodded. The five of us were considered the old breed…the un-killable. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Our thoughts became filled with all of the friends we have lost, who died in complete chaos. Yet we sat there in complete serenity. This wouldn't last forever, we all knew this, but that doesn't mean you can't hold on to that moment, that tiny sliver of time. Sometimes, the shortest moments are the most important.

"Can't believe they got em" Mikey spoke with his thick British accent. Murmurs of agreement came from the rest of the squad.

"He took a bunch of them with him," Richie added and we all looked at him as he added, "Remember Washington? After that, I thought we could do anything. I guess I was wrong." I sat and stared at him, wrapping my mind around what he had just said. We couldn't pull this off, we could not win but instead we could buy Adrian and the others just a little more time. However, the time would come where our lines would fall, and it was going to get bloody.

"We just have to accomplish this mission." Mike replied, and began to say a few encouraging words._ I wonder if it was pure ignorance, or hopelessness that fuels his drive to encourage us, either way he's a great person._ There's a shortage of people like Mike in the world.

"Hey, Brit," Richie finally flashed his smile which brightened the mood, "Why _did_ you join the marines? I mean, the American Marines." Brit had never told anyone his true story, it remained a secret much like my past. Still I wanted to know as much as the next guy, just because a soldier ranks up doesn't mean he loses his primary urges.

"Well, the truth," he replied and coughed, "I was tired of my country doing nothing. When Doofensmirtz rose to power I told myself that this was wrong and we had to do something. Instead my government chose to pursue peaceful trade negotiations with him. It was just good business, and well when I heard the Americans were movin in, I decided to fight…to make a difference and die for what is right." His speech seemed powerful; it almost seemed more inspiring than Mitch's war cry speech and the murmurs of patriotism I had heard. I decided it was time to hit the hay, because these guys needed me at my best. I passed on the torch, for lack of a better expression and made my way to the bunks. We had our first defensive line about half way through the densely built city but took up defensive lines further forward; we just like having a trench to fall back to. We were using that first trench as the barracks and I quickly lay my head down on my knapsack. All I could think about was the coming battle.

Time: 22:47

Friendly Casualties: 0

Defensive Line: Alpha

Captain Flynn's POV

"Captain…" the young private whispered as she shook me awake. My mouth and throat were dry and I began to reach for my canteen. My attention, however, remained fixed on Ashley.

"We've got a small recon party en route to our position. They've almost reached the kill box." She explained hastily as she began to double check her weapon. I was quick to grab my M16 and we ran to the front position. We moved with the darkness, making almost no noise. The only noise that could be heard was the sound of her rapid breathing. It was dark, with few streetlamps receiving enough power to illuminate the street. I came across two other privates who were crouched, weapons set to kill. Their gaze was fixed on their potential kills. I tapped them on their shoulders and they jumped. They immediately let out a sigh of relief and relaxed a little. I pulled out my binoculars to take a closer look at our guests. It was a standard five man patrol; they probably had five more covering them. It was standard operating procedure for the Imperial forces whenever they lost contact with a base or facility. But these men were different…they didn't look professional.

"They're slaves, suppressed weapons only," I replied as I began to tighten the suppresser around my gun barrel. I saw the two privates look back at the slaves and their expressions changed. They gazed upon raggedy clothed soldiers armed with AK-47 and RPGs, out dated technology. The first couple of days would probably be one sided in our favor, since Doofensmirtz would probably send as many slaves as possible to distract us from the advance of his true military forces. The men that marched in our gun sights were either bribed or had their families taken away from them.

"Maybe we can convince them to help us," John and Kirby said simultaneously in a whisper. I merely shook my head.

"You guys take the two on the left," I ordered as I pointed out their targets before turning to Ashley, "You're with me, you'll take the one on the very right and I'll get the ones in the middle."

"Where should I set up?" she replied, and I rolled my eyes and quickly scanned the environment for another position for her to eliminate her target. I found it but it lie across the street, and she would have to cross through the street lamp. She realized this as I pointed it out.

"It isn't getting closer, I'll cover you. After you're in position, wait five and take the shot." I spoke and she nodded and charged across the street while my eyes, and gun, remained fixed on the enemy. I glanced at the privates; they had their war faces on. I could see John had the jitters and I tapped him on the shoulder and calmed him down a bit.

"Set." I heard Ashley's hushed yell. I took aim, letting out a sigh slowly to ensure maximum accuracy. _Safety Off…5…4…3…2…1!_ We all squeezed the triggers simultaneously and the five men dropped, never knowing where we were. It all took place in complete silence. I tapped my headset.

"Mikey, take Deb and Allen, and secure those enemy weapons. Richie, you and Zach make sure there aren't any stragglers." I order in a "universal" broadcast. I could see out of the corner of my eye three soldiers move out to the bodies. Their rifles never dropped and their gazes remained fixed on the horizon, they knew that this was life or death. Kill or be killed. They began to search the bodies, for Intel…for ammo…but most importantly for weapons. Richie and Mikey quickly rejoined me, and Mitch showed up from out of nowhere. I had Mike, Allen and a couple other soldiers stay at the trenches, just in case we needed them to cover our retreat.

"City's clear sir." Richie said as he rested his gun on his knees. Mikey walked up, carrying every weapon on his back.

"All units, stand down and resume normal operations but stay alert." I informed all the marines over the comms.

"What'd we get?" I asked, and he began to stack the weapons in front of me.

"Three AK47s with five magazines each, poorly maintained though. Two Rocket Propelled Grenades with about ten rounds each." He explained, and I was glad that we got our hands on some explosives. One of the things that had begun to pop in my head was all the stuff we managed to forget.

"Stow it in the trenches," I responded and as he left I turned to Mike and Richie, "You know what we forgot?" They turned to me and Richie shrugged but Mike spoke.

"Sniper Rifles, there's a position just west of here that offers perfect sniper coverage." He replied and I cursed under my breath but that wasn't what I was thinking.

"We also forgot AT4s, good thing we got those RPGs otherwise we'd be screwed when the tanks came." I added as they began to nod, but Richie shook his head.

"I've got everything I need to kill my enemy sir." He replied smiling his usual smile, but this time it was more serious, more evil. He was getting his game face on and I needed to get mine on. Deb walked up to me and I gave him full attention as he spoke.

"Sir, I took this map from the sergeant over there." He said shakily, he obviously wasn't used to addressing superiors yet and I made him nervous. I took the map and thanked him. Mike, Mikey, and Richie joined me in one of the adjacent buildings and cleared off a table and turned on the light.

"According to this map, there are about three thousand slave troops in the adjacent town. They lack any heavy weapons or support." Richie read what the map said.

"Those are going to be the forces he'll send force. Due to their inexperience he'll send them at night. Probably tomorrow." I replied and they all looked at me. Despite what the odds said, this would probably be the easiest fight. These guys were pawns…cannon fodder and one thing I could guarantee: They'd never win going toe-to-toe with the marines.

"We'll be able to kill them with our superior weapons and training, with minimal casualties." Mikey spoke through his thick accent.

"We'll probably kill half of them and the rest will run off." Mike added a little hopeful that less men needed to die. We sat and deliberated, we agreed that we would funnel them into the city as plan, and like the Spartans at Thermopylae, destroy them where their numbers mean nothing. I walked off to take my shift but I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Why don't you take tonight off, I'll cover your shift," I heard the heavily accented voice say.

"What about you Brit? You haven't slept all day, I can't afford to have half a soldier." I responded with the deepest seriousness I could conjure up.

"I know that, but _we_ can't afford to have half a leader." He responded and I found myself submitting for the first time. If I was going to keep these men alive for as long as possible and buy those kids time to finish the construction, I'd need to be ready to fight in daylight. While Doofensmirtz may send slaves in the middle of the night, he always seems to send in his army during the day. I went to sleep, marines are taught to grab as much sleep whenever they can, but my head was filled with nightmares. The Doofensmirtz army was three days away…yesterday.

Day Two

Time: 12:45

Friendly Casualties: 0

Defensive Line: Alpha

Captain Flynn's POV

Tensions today were easily tripled from yesterday. I could easily tell since the playful banter and jokes had stopped. A majority of the day was spent in silence, but every once in awhile a few guys would find serenity in conversations of the past. About the good times, back before this mess, however, I have no good times…only this mess.

"Baljeet, talk to me. Gimme a sitrep over." I order over the radio and an exasperated Indian voice reported in.

"Sorry sir, I'm a little busy. This man is either a genius or an idiot, and he has ten layers of security. I've only managed to get past one and this second one is harder. How does anyone work around here?" he replied and I took a deep breath.

"Just keep workin on it Baljeet, I'm sure you'll crack it eventually" I replied and then the world went back into deafening silence. I began to feel my traitorous thoughts creep into my mind, the guilt and the sadness. I began to fight myself…and though it took the majority of the day, I won.

Time: 20:33

Friendly Casualties: 0

Defensive Line: Alpha

Captain Flynn's POV

"Do you think we'll get our own movie or something?" Richie asked, as the four of us sat in a circle…passing the time. I simply shook my head, but a couple of them began laughing.

"You mean like one of those movies where everyone dies in the end?" Mike asked.

"Yeah, those movies are awe-"he began to say but was cut off by something I had been looking forward to all day.

"Contacts!" I heard Allen scream over his mike and I could hear the distant gunfire. We grabbed our rifles and began to charge up to the fronts, the sound of war was there to greet us. I looked up and the sun was still up, this was a different tactic. Completely unexpected but I like a challenge.

"They came out of nowhere!" Allen screamed as I took up a firing position next to him. I flipped my safety off and quickly dispatched ten foes with my burst fire. I could hear the screaming of the other soldiers; they didn't want to be here and were quick to cower behind cover.

"Changing Mag!" I hear Allen scream as he changed out the clip and cocked his rifle. Then I see out of the corner of my eye the craziest thing I've seen all week: Eric charging out and diving in the middle of the street, never releasing the trigger.

"Eric, what the hell are you doing? Get behind cover!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, I couldn't afford to lose anyone this soon. I could tell Eric had come to the realization of how stupid he had been, it was painted on his face. I waved him over, while reloading my gun.

"Covering fire!" I screamed in Allen's ear, making him flinch a little, but we began to rapidly fire as Eric ran towards us. Bullets bounced past the young private as he made his way to the barricades we had constructed and we were using as cover. I could hear the bullets hitting the wood and stone that concealed us. I heard the roar of an M60 being fired in burst, but I knew that he needed to save his ammo. The sounds of bullet casings hitting the ground nearly matched the sound of gunfire as I tried to yell over my mike. The street lay littered with their dead and dying, even though only a short period of time had passed.

"Mike, reload and hold your fire!" I screamed over my own gunfire. I heard him say something but I didn't make it out.

"Say again, over!" I yelled. This time I heard him perfectly.

"You think they'll pull a kamikaze?" he asked in a scream.

"I know they will!" I replied as I began to resume fire, and I watched as the soldiers in the street feel to the ground, and soaked in the blood of their comrades. Then everything went quiet, and the enemy pulled back.

"Where are they going? Did we win?" I hear Allen's exhausted voice say and I see Eric shrug. I notice another good firing position in case of a banzai attack.

"Eric you see that pile of rubble over there?" I asked and he nodded, "Take up a defensive position there, me and Allen will cover you. Go!" The young private didn't complain, and didn't disregard my orders, instead he sprinted across the blood soaked field and dove behind the tables I had instructed him to. I saw him rest his barrel on the table to stabilize his aim. _They trained him well,_ I thought to myself, and I scanned the horizon. The scream of those who hadn't died yet filled the air, and they screamed for mercy and help. Allen looked at me and I could tell what he and everyone was thinking.

"Nobody move, keep scanning." I spoke to Allen and everyone, and though I heard some mutters of disappointment, everyone remained focused on the street. Maybe I was wrong, maybe they wouldn't charge and maybe Mike was right and they retreated. We killed at least a two hundred of them, without a scratch. Then I heard the thunderous roar of the enemy.

"Shit, everyone switch to full auto if you have it, they're charging!" I screamed as the wave of enemy came into vision. Everybody waited until the precise moment; this meant we were working in tune with each other. _Good_, I thought as I flipped my gun to three round burst, which was as high as my gun would go. The enemy screamed, running at a sprint firing their weapons. Their misplaced shots managing to hit everything but us, but it was enough to give Private Allen the jitters. It was such a large target though, it wouldn't have made such a difference.

"NOW!" I screamed as my marines and I began our own roar that was twice as loud as our enemies; the roar of our hearts, our gunfire, and our spirits.

"You want some? Get some!" I could hear Allen scream as he began to spray bullets into the crowd of soldiers. I began to fire myself, engaging in my own war cry. Down below Eric was doing the same, but jumped behind cover as more and more bullets began to hit his cover.

"God damn it!" he screamed as he began to blind fire, trying desperately to get them off his back.

"All units, Eric's pinned down and we need to get him some support now!" I screamed as wave after wave of enemy fell to our bullets. Their bodies began to stack in the streets, we were building our own human wall, without intentionally doing it.

"Doing the best we can! Reloading!" I could barely hear Mike respond over the roar of his M60. It was a disappointing waste of infantry, and I felt a little bad for those soldiers, but they would do the exact same thing if they were in my position. The bodies were now stacking up too high, and we couldn't hit out enemy any more.

"Cover me!" Mikey screams as he charges up the line, as bullets whizz over his head. He dives and crawls through the blood and guts up to the human wall before kicking down the wall, revealing the endless wave of enemy troops. As he makes his way back, he stops by Eric and grabs him.

"Come on, mate!" the blood covered Brit screams as he pulls Eric with him, firing his rifle with his other hand. He was a crazy bastard, but a hell of a good soldier. _Lucky, too,_ I thought. It was difficult to think over the roar of the gun fire, but eventually the waves of enemy troops halted. We must have killed at least half of them; I could hear the screams of relief and victory coming from the marines. It was a small victory, but was well earn. Mike ran up, the barrel of his M60 glowing red hot, and said a line from one of his favorites.

"Hell of a good start" he spoke smiling, as he pulled me into a bro hug. He laughed and I had to admit, it was a hell of a good start. However, it's ironic how one bullet out of thousands can change the mood of every man.

"Oh my god, Allen!" Eric screamed as he shoved me and Mitch out of his way. With all the noise, I had failed to hear the young man next to me get shot and lay on the ground. I looked down as Eric pushed down on Allen's neck, trying to stop the bleeding but it was too late. The light had already left the young man's eyes.

"NOOOO!" Eric screamed with sadness and rage in his voice, and he began to try to stifle his tears. Almost everyone had gathered around the two privates and watch silently. I put my hand on his should, but he shrugged it off angrily. I pulled him off and shoved him into the wall.

"Listen to me! This man is dead and if you don't want his death to be for nothing you need to pull yourself together and kill every evil son of a bitch that walks onto that road!" I screamed into his face, and I could see the sadness begin to overcome the rage, the exact opposite of what had happened to Zach. I shook him again, and then I could see the marine in his eyes.

"Mike, take Eric and three other men out and keep watch, Mikey you take Deb, Troy, Karl, and Ashley and collect weapons. Richie, strip him down of weapons and supplies." I ordered and the marines scrambled to fulfill my orders, the faster they got it done, the faster they'd be able to get behind cover.

"What about the body?" Richie asked silently as he began to take the ammo off of Allen's body.

"I'll dig a grave for him…it's the least I can do." I responded dryly as I walked off to a small garden in the back. Obviously the previous owners hadn't been inspected in awhile. I pulled out my entrenching tool and began to dig. After awhile, I build a makeshift cross since Allen was a Christian. Eric came and helped me with the body, and helped me bury him. I could see the tear marks began to go down his face. It was to be expected, but he would have to shape up or more men would die. I can't afford to have half a soldier, but I decided to leave him to grieve for his friend.

"You know what the worst part is?" he said to me as I began to walk away. I turned and faced him, waiting for him to explain.

"No one's going to remember him; no one is going to remember what a good person he was." He added through sobs, and I walked over and gently placed my hand on his shoulder.

"But we will." I replied and he looked up at me with red eyes, and I shook his shoulder a little before turning around to leave. The last thing I heard him say before he was too far away for me to hear was, "Do you think anyone will remember us?" I sat down and looked at my watch, 23:55, and I looked up to see a beautiful sunset. I sat there and gazed at its beauty, thinking about all that had happened. I managed to look away from it once or twice, to see the marines clearing out the carnage in the street, gathering the weapons and ammo and preparing themselves for the coming battle. Little did I know I would have a hard time getting to sleep, because I couldn't help thinking, _Will anyone remember us?_

Day Three

Time: 01:30

Friendly Casualties: 1

Defensive Line: Alpha

Captain Flynn's POV

I awoke to the smell of rotting flesh, it would have been dangerous to move the enemies body's away from out defensive positions, and there were obviously more of them just outside of the city. But there was something else. A shell impact next to me reveals the answer, mortars.

"Mortar fire! Get in the buildings!" Mike screams as everyone, including me, scrambles to grab their equipment and get to cover. This came as a genuine surprise.

"I thought they didn't have any artillery!" Mikey screamed at me as I sprinted into the building, with explosion going off around me. I jumped in and pulled out the map.

"Well somebody read the map wrong…Richie!" I screamed as I noted that the map also said they had two mortar teams around fifty clicks outside of the main village.

"Ok, is everybody all right?" I asked and my nerves were temporarily calmed when everybody replied.

"All right, we're going to have to silence those mortar tubes. Anyone want to go with me?" I asked but Mikey was quick to interject.

"Sir, we need you to stay here, we can't afford to lose you. I'll go, I can take Richie, Zach, and Dan. We can take care of those teams." He explained and I reluctantly agreed.

"Good luck guys." I added as they left out of the rear entrance. Then they were gone.

Staff Sergeant Richie's POV

"Switch to night vision." Brit's hushed voice speaks out to us and we immediately pull down the goggles. Everything turns a bright green, and instead of seeing five feet in front of me, I could see everything. I signal for us to follow, and I take his right. I scan for targets as we move…slowly. The echoes of mortar fire in the distance. One thing I've always thought was cool about night vision was the fact a laser, invisible to the naked eye, protruded from all of our guns. I could tell where my bullets would end up and where my ally's bullets would end up. I noticed some movement to the left.

"Brit, watch your left." I whispered to my friend and his gun became fixed on the enemy position. We moved in silence, stopping only twice when patrols would come by. Moments in which we all froze and became one with the forest, where the slightest movement could mean the living or dying of you and your friends. We reached the top of a little hill and what we saw below was astonishing. All the men we had killed…was just the tip of the ice berg, there were thousands of tents and across the little clearing were the mortar teams. We all looked at each other, and put the silencers on our guns; we were bad asses but not that bad ass.

"Cover me, I'm gonna slot that guy and take his radio." Brit whispers to us, and we all aim our weapons, the only problem being there are too many targets to choose from. Brit crawled up to an unsuspecting soldier, simply taking a piss. The last one he would ever take, as Brit quickly cover his mouth and slit his throat. The groans were barely audible and didn't last long. He signaled for us to follow him, and we decided to take the long route, unfortunately that involved crawling. We crawled, as hundreds of enemy soldiers sat around campfires; singing, eating, talking…just like us. I wiped some wet grass off my holographic sight so it would still work, even if it didn't I could just take it off and switch back to iron sights. I just really don't like iron sights. Then we saw the two mortar teams, only six people occupied the hole and nobody was paying attention to them. They had no understanding of what they were doing; they were simply dropping explosives into a tube and propelling them someplace else. The ignorant bastards probably never experienced combat like us, and don't expect to be casualties. _Guess again,_ I think to myself, as the four of us take aim and silently mow down our targets. Now we had to disable the mortar tubes, or others would quickly take the dead men's place, Brit runs up and kicks down a man hunched over the tube, pointing his gun down at his face, just in case. We looked at each other, this would be a risky op and we accepted that but without timed or electronically detonated explosives, we'd have to disable the tube with a grenade. When that happened everyone in the valley would know we were there.

"All, you three take up defensive positions and when you hear the first grenade explode, kill as many of them as possible. Keep your silencers and flash suppressors on but Richie you'll need to use your M203. When you hear the second grenade explode, we'll fall back and take a long cut around route and draw them back into the city." Brit hastily whispered to us as he drew out his plan on the mud. It was crazy but it just might work. I flipped my 203 open and quickly slide the grenade into it. The four of us look at each other and nod, for it was entirely possible that they would experience heavy casualties or would all perish. I scanned the valley for the target of my first grenade and I found it, an ammo dump right next to the one piece of light armor they had. The map never had anything about light armor, but I guess it's possible I missed something, after all I missed the mortars but African is hard to read.

"Ready" we all whisper, and Brit runs up and throws a grenade into the first mortar.

Captain Flynn's POV

What was taking them so long? I immediately regretted not going with them. For all I know, they could all be dead. Some of my best soldiers, gone on a suicide mission because I was too tired to think clearly. It had sounded like an accomplishable mission, but I had failed to consider enemy reinforcements that were due to arrive any moment. They'd be here sometime in the next twenty four hours. My nerves calmed as soon as the mortar fire stopped.

"All right everybody, defensive positions!" I yelled in a hushed scream. Everyone quickly makes their way to the cover which offered them safety the first assault, while others took refuge in some of the buildings overlooking the road, resting their guns on the windows. Then I heard an explosion and gunfire in the distance.

"What the hell was that?" Mike asks as he and I into the building to the right and up the stairs. I pull out my binoculars and see a huge burst of fire spreading amongst the trees.

"They must have hit an ammo dump." I replied, this would make our lives easier, but their lives would be harder.

"Are they gonna be able to make it?" he looked at me with concern for our friends. I could merely shrug as I watched the fire spread and listened to the gunfire in the distance.

Staff Sergeant Richie's POV

"Grenade out!' Zach screamed as he pulls the pin and tosses a grenade into the tightly compacted enemy troops. It explodes, sending blood, guts, and limbs flying everywhere. I empty two or three clips into the enemy without realizing that the second grenade had gone off. Brit runs up and slaps me in the head.

"You guys aren't Rambo, let's get the hell out of here!" he screams in my ear with his heavy accent. You had to respect Brit, he was a hell of a good soldier, and a pretty awesome guy at parties, plus he kind of reminded me of James Bond. But you don't want to piss him off, so the four of us began to sprint backwards. Bullets whizzed past us, splintering wood and branches as we ran. The leaves seem to disappear in a spray of dust. Zach quickly passes me, but failed to see a branch and trips. I turn around and fire my M203 in the direction the gunfire is coming from as I make my way to Zach's immobile body. I fear the worst.

"Zach!" I scream, I notice the other two coming back and taking defensive positions, trying to hold back the horde of soldiers. No man gets left behind. I slap Zach in the face, repeatedly calling his name and he begins to regain consciousness.

"Come on!" I scream as I pull him to his feet and we begin running like mad men. Brit, while sprinting, pulls out a grenade and throws it back. With his rifle hanging by his chest with an empty clip, he pulls out a pistol and fires at the crowd. He does all this without losing any speed.

"We're not gonna make it!" I hear Dan scream as he collapses.

"I'm hit!" he screams as blood begins to ooze from his chest and we turn around to help him, "GO GO! Leave me behind, get your asses back to base, I'll hold them off!" We all keep running and a tear escapes my eyes at the thought of Dan's sacrifice. I hear his gunfire above that of everyone else's, and his screams. We take a turn and can see the outskirts of the city. My heartbeat and breath begin to block out all other sounds, but I couldn't afford to stop.

"Friendlies coming in hot!" I barely hear Brit scream into the mike as the horde of enemy soldiers continues their charge. We enter the town, and barely see the marines waiting to greet us, we dive behind cover and I immediately reload my rifle and wait to greet my enemy. Few of them are stupid enough to charge into our loving arms, and fall to the sounds of our rifles. I put down my rifle, and take off my helmet, resting against a wall. Sweat drips from my face as I try to calm myself down. Brit and Zach are quick to join me, and we sit in silence; All of us thinking about Dan, and what horrible things they'd be doing to his body.

"These belong to you." We all turn to face Captain Flynn as he returns our dog tags. Since it was a near suicide mission we turned them in, just for the record. We silently put out dog tags back around our neck, but Flynn stood there hold Dan's. Our expressions told him everything he needed, and he snapped one off and threw the other one to us to keep. I wondered what he would do with the other tag, he probably put it in his pocket the same as he did with Allen. But what would he do with it. One thing was for sure, after seeing Dan die it had dawned on us, that we weren't invincible like we thought.

Doofensmirtz Imperial Army Leader's POV (Just so you know, they are speaking an African dialect but I don't speak in anything like that so I wrote it in English)

"Did you find anything on the body?" I asked my lieutenant.

"No, sir. The American wouldn't let us take him alive. Ten men were lost in the struggle." He replied. _Worthless peasants,_ I thought to myself.

"What of flanking positions?" I asked, not taking my gaze away from the window as I witnessed my troops try to fix the damage cause by four marines. _I'm tired of commanding farmers in battle,_ I again thought to myself.

"All unit sent to test the integrity of the other areas have reported back. The main road is the only way in or out" he explained as we gazed upon the map.

"Allies in the C'nuck tribe have sent two World War Two class Sherman tanks. Old and probably worthless, but it was the best they had. Emperor Rodney is sending us one hundred and fifty elite soldiers with a light doofen-tank and two heavy doofen-tanks. The Pave Low you requested has also been granted. They should be here within five hours." The lieutenant explained.

"How many infantry are left." I asked.

"Fifteen hundred sir." He replied. An evil grin spread across my face, because I had finally figured it out. The tactics all suited a small infantry force, which was busy with a third objective. That meant, that only a fraction of the force would be defending, so we could probably overrun them with our heavier firepower.

"Good, we'll attack at noon. All forces will be involved and it will be a fight to the death. We will overpower and destroy them!" I replied angrily smashing my fist into the table. I grew tired of this pestilence.

"Only the strong survive!" the lieutenant said the catchphrase proudly saluting me.

"And the weak perish!" I finished it and sat down. At noon, the marines would die.

Captain Flynn's POV

We were all stunned by Dan's death; he had been a good friend and a great soldier. May god have graced him with at least a quick death. I looked out into the darkness, noticing the storm clouds building in the horizon. It was going to be a flash flood thunderstorm, I knew it was in the forecast but I guess I believed we could do it. But now we're two men short, and we'd probably be fighting some of the elite troops in the Doofensmirtz army, in the thunder and rain. Mike walked up to me, Allen and Dan's death had gotten to him.

"I'm never going to see my wife again." He spoke with no emotion, his expression blank as he gazed upon the darkness. I shook my head and he sighed.

"I wish I could have said goodbye to her." He replied sadly, staring at my ground. I took a deep breath before tapping my headset.

"Baljeet?" I asked and I heard the Indian kid begin to groggily reply but I interrupted him, "You still have communications online?"

"Um…yes. It won't last long with the storm though." He replied, and I took off my headset and handed it to Mike, "Give it back when you're done." Then I watched as my best friend talked to his wife for the last time.

Day Three

Time: 15:04

Friendly Casualties: 7

Defensive Line: Bravo

Captain Flynn's POV

The ringing of my ears drowned out everything; I could hear the muffled gun fire and screaming. I weakly turn my head to see the smoldering remains of two world war two tanks, with three more rapidly approaching. The rock that was pinning me to the ground was lifted by Richie and Brit, who were screaming at me to get to cover. The events of the day began to come back to me, they had begun a shock and awe campaign, quickly killing Miller, Johnson and Ashley. Two others had perished but I don't remember which ones.

"Get the hell up to the front!" Brit screams into my ear, slapping me to help me regain my senses.

"Light armor, inbound!" Deb yells as he kills a soldier hiding behind one of the barricades.

"I'll get it!" Brit replies, as he pulls out a RPG launcher, "Cover me!" We all raise our rifles, bullets impacting the ground around us but we still fight. My gun clicks empty and I dive behind the smoldering tank.

"Baljeet, tell me you have something!" I scream in panic as I reload my gun. I see Brit running between the buildings, shooting a couple enemy soldiers with a pistol as he goes.

"I-I am sorry but I've still got four locks to go!" he screams back and I let an exasperated groan out of my lips.

"Hurry up, because I don-" I begin to say as an enemy charges me and I jump up, quickly putting three rounds in his chest, "I don't know how much longer we can keep this up!" Out of the corner of my eye I see the light tank explode, and Brit running back towards us.

"Covering fire!" I scream as the roar of Mike's M60 echoes in my ear. He looks at me, blood dripped from his face but it was not his own. A tank fires a round that explodes in a building right next to me and instinctively hit the dirt.

"Phineas!" he screams, one of the first times he has ever used my first name, "Alpha's gone to shit, we have to fall back to Bravo!" I look over to see the heavy tanks begin to run over the carcasses of the other tanks, firing their massive machine guns as they go. Marines scream in fear as they run away from the thunderous cannons.

"We've got to take out that tank! Brit?" I asked hopefully but he merely looked at me.

"I'm out of rockets sir!" he screams as he mows down three other soldiers before getting hit in the arm.

"Argh, son of a bitch!" he grunts as he tied a piece of cloth around his arm as bullets continue to clang against the tank.

"I've got an RPG sir." I hear Eric's voice come out of nowhere. I pull him close to ensure he can hear me.

"Aim for the treads, the fatal flaw of Doofen-tanks is they have ammo stored in their treads, Doofensmirtz must have been retarded!" I scream into his ear and he nods with understand. We all rise up, firing at the enemy and their tanks as Eric runs to the adjacent building.

"Fall back! Shoot and Scoot! Good luck Eric!" I scream as we begin to pull back. Me and Mike stay, firing blindly at the enemy to get their hands down while Zach and the Brit sprint twenty feet and then turn around.

"Go!" Brit screams, and we begin running as a tank shell impacts the ground next to us send us flying to the right. I stumble to my feet pulling Mike up, who was dazed as well but we kept on running. Then the four us put down as much fire as the other marines began to pull back.

"Changing mag!" Deb yells as he slaps another clip into his rifle, and then continues to fire killing three soldiers with single fire. It was miracle we weren't getting hit. The lead heavy tank gets into position, and Eric steps out to destroy it. The only problem being Eric had stepped out to soon…a mistake that would cost him his life as the tank's machine gunner began to empty its magazines into Eric's body. He collapses, firing his rocket in the building. We had no choice but to fall back. I begin my run, but when I turn back Brit was still there, firing. I run back up to him.

"We've got to go!" I scream at him but he shakes his head, and grabs my hand.

"No sir, I'll take care of the tank." He replied before running off, I look down into my hand and see his dog tags.

"Brit no!" Richie screams as he moves to help, but I pull him back. Thunder roars in the clouds above and rain floods the streets. Red mists begin to overtake the water as it began drip from our faces like sweat. It was a torrential downpour and Brit was going to die in it.

Gunnery Sergeant Michael "Brit" Caldwell's POV

Rain tapped on my helmet, a sort of farewell from the earth. While others sprint back, I choose to sprint forward. It was now that I felt relieved that Richie had asked me to join the day of the operation, because it offered me a chance to do what I had enlisted to. To save my country….to save my world. However instead of being able to pick my weapon, I was stuck with my old MP5, but that was all I needed. I charged towards Eric's dead body, the tank shell roaring past me as I dove down and slide to cover on top of a thin layer of water. Three soldiers kick down a door behind me and I quickly empty a clip into them. The smash the window in and hop into the building that would be Eric's final resting place. I tapped him on the helmet as I pick up his RPG. No one had noticed me yet, and I reloaded the cold, wet, blood soaked weapon. I took aim at the one place I knew would blow up the tank. _This is for all my country men who died at your hands…this is for the countless lives you've enslaved or destroyed…but most importantly this is for killing the best people I've ever had the privileged to know…the marines!_ The rocket shot out and impacted with the tank, creating a magnificent explosion that threw me back to the wall. I felt the energy begin to ebb away from my body; the dark wall of unconsciousness began to nip at the corners of my vision. I weakly manage to pull out my pistol, and begin to fire, managing to kill one last soldier. The tank behind the one Brit destroyed adjusts its cannon to demolish the building…and Brit along with it. The thunderous roar of the shell and crumbling of the building fills his existence and he leaves this world with one last thought. _Semper Fi!_

Captain Flynn's POV

"The crazy bastard did it…" Richie muttered in disbelief. I shook him out of his shock.

"Listen, you need to turn on the sentry guns to cover our retreat!" I speak as I continue to shake him. He nods and runs back to turn on the automated turrets that would spray death onto the road.

"Everybody, get into Bravo's trench. Those sentry guns are gonna tear up anything in this area." I scream and everybody began to stop shooting and run with fear in their eyes. I began to do the same, as some of the enemy soldiers began to foolishly charge believing victory was theirs. I jumped into the trench and gave the thumbs up. The roar of the automated mini-guns over took everything, the sound of the rain, the sound of the fire, the screaming of men…everything.

"We made it!" Deb scream and some of the marines let out screams of victory.

"Wait, what about the other tank!" Walter replies worriedly.

"It's bogged down; the destroyed heavy tank is too heavily armored for it to run over" Ian adds, breathing heavily. We were ok for now.

"Baljeet…"I speak into my headset only to be greeted with static, "Baljeet…ack they must be jamming us!" I take off my headset and throw it on the ground in frustration. Mike takes a seat next to me and removes his helmet, letting his soaked hair fall in front of his eyes.

"How long do you think it'll take." He asks me.

"Not long, they'll probably lick their wounds and attack later in the night." I said as I glanced down at my watch which read that it was 16:00 or 4:00 in civilian time. I savored the moment of rest knowing it would take long for the enemy to come knocking again.

Day Three

Time: 22:47

Friendly Casualties: 7

Defensive line: Bravo

Captain Flynn's POV

The enemy had been resupplied with fresh troops, but they had gone back to sending slaves to fight. We fought wave after wave of banzai charges, a majority of which was destroyed by out sentry guns. The sadistic enemy commander must have had the same thought that I did; we weren't going to have enough bullets. We all sat, trying to get sleep in the few buildings we still controlled. The trench had flooded, making it useless to sleep in. Two stayed awake, monitoring the sentry gun status on the single monitor we had set up. One watched the monitor and the other watch the dark street, getting split second images when lightning struck the ground. For the first time in my life I was growing tired of war and there was one reason for that. Isabella, even though it technically wasn't my Isabella I still felt a sort of love for her. While it may not be physical it sure as hell was emotional, and I didn't want to watch that innocent little girl die again. I was beginning to feel again, I could feel a smile almost grace my lips for the first time since I was ten. Almost…but not enough. I needed to become a rock for my men, to steel up and kill my enemy.

"Shit!" Zach yells across the room, which makes all the soldiers pretending to sleep jump up with their rifles in hand.

"They've got a helicopter, it just took out our sentry guns!" he adds as we all begin to sprint outside into the cold, dark rain. The water splashes as we march to defensive positions, our guns working as a gutter with water running over them like a stream. The whirring of the helicopter's rotors fills our minds, we see squads of enemy soldiers slowly make their way across the wreckage. _They haven't freed the tank yet…good._ A spotlight scans our lines, but no shots are fired.

"Hold your fire," I whisper to them as I see them all shaking from a combination of cold and fear, "Richie you got any rockets left?" He reaches around and feels around before nodding. I signal for him to move closer and he ducks behind some rubble, pulling out his launcher.

"We're going to cover Richie, he'll take out the helicopter." As soon as I said that, the spotlight jumped to Richie and bullets tore through his body sending it flying backwards as his RPG slide down the wet hill. I ran over to him, watching him gawk at me with blood spilling out of his mouth. It didn't last long, thankfully, and I closed his eyes, and took his dog tag. I put it in my pocket with the others. Zach begins to hunch back in order to dive down and get the RPG launcher. I pull him back down.

"You'll never make it!" I reply to his complaints.

"Then what the hell are we supposed to do, like you said we can't shoot it down with bullets we need that launcher." He replied but I didn't care. What he said had sent me into a state of deep thought. An RPG launcher would completely destroy a helicopter but a few well placed shots at the rear rotor and the helicopter would collapse. I crouched down, and lay my gun on the sand bags as everybody look at me in awe. I let out a huge breath to steady my aim, as the helicopter turned, exposing its rear rotor…my target.

"You'll never hit it." Zach mutters and before I take the shot I reply, "You just gotta believe you can" then I fire three rounds, the last managing to dislodge one of the screws and the helicopter began to spew out of control. Everyone let out a cry of disbelief and triumph. I was still amazed at the fact that I had made that shot, but I knew it wasn't just me. I looked up at the sky, rain stinging my eyes and thought, _Thank you Isabella._ I never really believed in God after Isabella died, but lately I've found myself believing a little more each day. With the little miracles that I experienced it was the only explanation that could put my mind at ease. I'd never tell anyone though.

"Take them now!" Zach roars as all the marines open fire on the unsuspecting soldiers below, perfectly exposed. They quickly collapse, offering no sounds of resistance. The helicopter finally comes to a crashing halt in a building next to our trench. Zach loses control and charges out, and I'm quick to follow him. The other marines watch helplessly as Zach pulls the pilot out of the cockpit, still alive, and proceeded to beat the living hell out of him.

"You worthless piece of shit!" I hear him scream with pure anger in his voice, but we didn't have time for this. I kick the corporal down, pulling out _Isabella_ and putting one clean shot in between his eyes. I found myself finding pleasure in his death and uttered words that anybody in this situation could understand.

"That was Richie, you son of a bitch." I replied with as much hate in my voice as Zach. Just then bullets began to come from every direction.

"Contacts right!" Deb yells as I see the muzzle flashes in the distance. Zach and I sprint back to the safety of the trench, firing blindly on the way.

"All right, hit them hard! We'll have to-" I begin to say but my jaw drops at my next sight. The younger version of Isabella and me running up behind us.

"Mike, take charge here!" I scream as I run over to ask them what the hell they were doing. They jumped into the trench first.

"What the hell are you guys doing?" I scream as I take an opportunity to reload my M16. The roar of gunfire was new to them as they huddle together.

"We lost contact, Isabella wanted to check on you and I wouldn't let her go alone. Also Baljeet says he's on the last lock and just needs a little more time!" Phineas finally screams, holding Isabella as she screams in fear.

"Get in the building, you'll be safe there!" I scream, and they obey. I rise up and rapidly begin to fire my rifle. But then I saw something and my eyes grew three times their sizes. The heavy tank began to make its way up the hill, the ground trembled under its treads.

"Tank! Get down!" Mike yells at everyone, and I see where the tank is aiming; the building I sent Phineas and Isabella to hide in.

"NO!" I scream as I frantically run towards the building, all the marines screaming at me to get down. But it didn't matter; I wasn't going to watch Isabella die again…or me for that matter. I dove on them to protect them, to use my body as a shield as the tank fired its round. The building began to collapse, then I felt a sharp pain and afterwards nothing at all.

Author's Notes

Well, that concludes the longest chapter of my story. Unfortunately it is winding down and will end in the next few chapters. Anyway, I wanted to point out that this chapter shares the same name as two chapters in DasSchnabeltier's Over-Complexity, and I wanted to apologize for that but I can't think of another name so I hope you don't mind. Also, about the perspective's thing, I'll try to keep that in mind but habits are habits. I appreciate all of you who have reviewed or even bothered to read this far. I hope this story continues to be enjoyable and entertaining to all of you in the future. I don't know when I'll be able to post or even write the next chapter so it might take awhile to update and if so, I'm sorry bout that. Thanks for your time! Please review!

ViolentNerd101


	17. Passing the Torch

**Phineas and Ferb: A Stitch in Time**

Chapter Sixteen: Passing the Torch

Isabella's POV

They men we had just seen weren't the silent tactical killers we had seen three days ago, they were just people, fighting for their lives. Phineas and Ferb had already completed the time machine and Baljeet was almost done cracking the code. Soon this nightmare would be over…and I would be able to resume my life with Phineas and our newfound romance.

Gun fire is by far the scariest thing I have ever heard, it just had a way of shaking me all the way to my core. It took all of me and Phineas's might to push Flynn off of us. Blood and mud caked his boots, and a puddle of water began to form around him. The roaring noises of the war waged right outside, and Phineas could sense this as he pulled me into his warm embrace. We sat there, huddled against each other, dripping wet and cold. But our hearts were all we needed to stay warm and so we waited for Flynn to move. His sporadic breathing worried me but I was immobilized with fear. Darkness gripped us and threatened to never let go, but anything could be beaten…by our love.

Captain Flynn's POV

_Was this death? Is this her icy embrace?_ I thought to myself and then I heard another familiar voice. _Get up._ The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth, yet I was not coughing up blood. I felt myself being shaken back to reality.

"Captain Flynn!" Isabella spoke in my ear with worry and fear painted on her voice. I groggily turned towards her.

"Wha-What happened?" I asked my throat horse and dry. I reach for my canteen and began to guzzle it down; savoring every drop of the element of life.

"The building collapsed, I-I don't know what happened to the rest of the marines. You've been out for an hour. I was really worried." She replied and I could see that Phineas's efforts to comfort had been futile. They both had tear streaks running down their faces; war was no place for children.

"I'm fine," I reassured them and tapped my mic, "Communications are still down." I reach for my M16 but immediately frown in disappointment. _Its busted, destroyed by a huge ass piece of rock,_ I thought to myself, cursing under my breath. The two children still had their gazes fixed on me, and I pulled out _Isabella_, pleased that she had survived the demolition.

"Follow me at a distance, and keep quiet." I told them with seriousness in my voice and they nodded. I began to move some of the rubble, throwing some of the bigger rocks over. After at least ten minutes of agonizing digging, I finally punched a hole to the surface. I was greeted by a delightful splash of rain water. It was quiet; the smoldering remains of a heavy tank lay right outside. _How the hell did they destroy it?_ I wondered. I became fed up with digging my hand raw and in one kick, kicked a hole big enough for us to crawl out.

"Wait for my signal" I whispered as I crawled out gun first. Bodies lay all around me, the bodies of the enemy, and a few marines. I checked the trench, and a few marines lay soaking in their own blood. Their dog tags had been taking, so they must have ordered a retreat. I made my way back to the destroyed building and signaled for the kids to follow. I walked forward at a crawl, keeping my eyes open for the tiniest hint of movement. Out of nowhere two enemy soldiers appeared, having a smoke. I grab Phineas and Isabella and duck behind a wall, covering their mouths with my hand. _Smoking, that's a bad sign._ After awhile, the other one sprinted away.

"Ssh." I whisper to the children as I slowly make my way up to the smoking soldier. I jumped up, covering his mouth my hand and shoving my knife into his chest simultaneously. He struggled for awhile, and tried screaming out to his friend but in the end I watched the light leave his eyes just like everyone else. The kids gawk at me in fear, and I, with a single movement of my head, told them to get behind the wall. I crouched down, moving slowly with _Isabella_ fixed on any enemy I saw, the children followed shortly behind. It took quite awhile of this before we finally had marines in sight. A half hour, of stealth kills, dodging patrols, and trying to keep these kids alive. We stayed behind a tree as I analyzed the scene. There were fifty enemy units in defensive positions along the town, while a few marines could be seen in defensive positions along the "Alamo". Two soldiers stood between us and the marines. I pulled the Phineas and Isabella off to the side.

"Listen to me, I am going to shoot these two guys and when I do you have to keep running and I want you to keep running to the base." I spoke to them and Isabella began to sob silently.

"Listen to me," Isabella tried to look away but I pulled her face back, "You're going to have to keep going and don't look back." She jumped into my arms, whispering "thanks you" into my ears and apologizing for stuff that wasn't her fault. I returned the embrace and turned to Phineas.

"You're going to have to keep her moving, can you do that?" I asked and Phineas gave me a stern salute, better than a lot of salutes that civilians tried to do. Well, he is me after all.

"Yes, Sir!" he responds with pride and I feel a little knob in the back of my throat as I return the salute. I look back at them and nod and then I jump up and fire three shots. The first explodes the head of the man standing guard on the left and the other two tear through the chest of the one on the right.

"Friendlies coming in hot!" I scream out to the marines as I see the kids dash out of cover. The sporadic gunfire resumes and I empty my clip into the line of soldiers running towards the soldiers. The returned fire and I dove behind the rock, reloading _Isabella_ and pulling out a grenade and tossing it at my enemy before dashing out towards my troops. I ran, firing _Isabella_ behind me as they felt the effects of my grenade. I jump behind a huge road block,

"Captain Flynn? I thought you were dead?" Zach screamed in disbelief.

"News of my death has been greatly exaggerated, where's Mike?" I asked, popping off two more shots into an enemy soldier trying to move across the field.

"He didn't make it." he replied sadly, before returning fire with what I just noticed was Mike's M60. _Who did make it?_

"Sound off!" I scream and I hear three marines reply.

"Johnson here." , "Walter here, sir." , "Ian here!"

"All right we're getting the hell out of here!" I screamed as I emptied the rest of my clip into an enemy. I reloaded and focus in on one soldier using a dislodged piece of a building for cover. He popped up, and I fired three shots, all managing to hit around him. _Damn it!_ I see his head begin to creep out, and I fire another shot this one closer, spraying debris into the man's eye. He screams and reveals himself by cover and I quickly fire three shots into his chest and he collapses.

"Here's the C-4 detonator sir!" Zach yells over the sound of bullet impacts on the concrete. He tosses the little detonator over to me and I grasped it in one hand, and fired _Isabella_ with the other.

"All right Zach, we'll leave last. You three," I scream at the top of my lungs and as soon as Zach finished reloading I finished, "GO NOW!" They sprinted out of cover and me and Zach began to fire as many rounds at the enemy as we could. A few enemies fell, but a majority did what we wanted them to, they put their heads and their guns down behind cover. It was still stressful only getting fifteen rounds though, and I had to reload frequently. After awhile, I could hear the gunfire of the other three marines. Zach, without ceasing fire, nodded at me and I made my way back towards the men, keeping up the fire with my pistol. Halfway through, I felt a sharp pain in my leg and collapsed on one leg. I grimaced as I picked myself up, and began to limp as blood gushed from my leg. Then I felt two more sharp pains in my chest and couldn't walk.

"Captain!" Zach screams as he makes his way towards me, "Covering fire!" He grabs me and begins to pull me away.

"No, leave me. Get out of here." I finally get a chance to talk and he immediately refuses.

"I'm a dead man anyway, don't die with me…don't deny me this!" I responded in anger and he finally stopped. I pulled out a chain I had been working on; It contained a copy of everyone's dog tags, and in some cases doubles. Blood had found its way into the words, only adding to the effect.

"It has been an honor serving with you sir." Zach replied, tears began to flow from his face and I could see the anger and rage building in his eyes.

"It's been an honor serving with you…now get out of here…marine." I replied as a smile grew across my face. This shocked Zach and would have shocked anybody but I was smiling the same smile I wore as a child, when I had fun every day. For the first time, in a long time he smiled, and he smiled for the last time in his life.

Corporal Zach's POV

"Take that you bastards!" I screamed over the roar of the M60 and when I was definitely not prepared for what I saw next. Was Captain Flynn smiling? The question echoed in my mind, as I sprinted away from the man who changed my life, who made me into me. He was my mentor and most importantly he was my friend, and I was angry that he died before me. I should have run out first. My thoughts dwelled on the chain of dog tags I put in my pocket, it was sort of like he was passing the torch. In the end, there was only person he wanted to deliver it to and as it was my friend's last wish I would do it or die trying. _I'm probably going to die._

"Keep moving!" I yelled as the other three joined me in a full out sprint. It wasn't fire and maneuver, because Flynn was still going to detonate the C4. After awhile, a huge shockwave threw us on our faces, and we turned around to witness the glorious explosion. That was Captain Flynn's last hurrah.

"Ooh-Rah Flynn, Ooh-Rah." I muttered under my breath before we turned and walked towards the bunker entrance. We had lost so much, and as we got into the bunker Phineas and Isabella were there to greet us.

"Where's Flynn?" they both asked at the same time and I couldn't bring myself to speak, so I merely shook my head. Isabella burst out into tears, and threw herself into the young man's arms. Phineas was quick to nurture her and comfort her in his arms. _At least you've got someone to nurture little dude._ Then I heard a noise.

"What the hell?" I asked as I turned around and over the horizon I saw a wave of enemy troops charging at us.

"We should probably get inside." Johnson spoke, with a half smirk- half grimace on his face.

"Yes…Yes we should. Run!" I screamed as the five of us ran down the long and endless hallway. _Jeez, Doofensmirtz sure didn't know how to prioritize._ We continued to run, the children became tired and we had to carry them to the check point where the fireside girls sat ready to fight. War was no place for children.

"You girls get downstairs, we'll hold them off!" I yelled and they scrambled down the steps and we set up our defensive positions.

"Here we go, been an honor guys" Johnson speaks as the wave begins to funnel into the hallway.

"Same" we all reply as we open fire.

Adrian's POV

What a long and stressful week…not to mention boring. We had the time machine finished for awhile but because of Baljeet. I spent the last few days feeling useless, watching the marine's valiant struggle on the monitors until communications went down. I was in awe of all their sacrifices, and I owed them everything. I had broken down and cried many times this week, at the thought of these regular people laying down their lives for a future they will never know. Phineas, Isabella, and the fireside girls quickly ran downstairs.

"We ready?" Phineas asked and I merely shook my head as I turned to look at the sweat soaked Indian kid rapidly typing on the computer.

"I'm doing the best I can! I'm soooo close, will you just get off my back. It will get done when it gets done!" he screamed angrily at us. Then the sounds of gunfire echoed in the halls above and the Baljeet's expression quickly changed.

"Perhaps I better hurry…" he replied softly to which we all scream angrily at him to hurry up. I stared at the door.

"The crystals are in all of the crates so just grab three and stick them in the power box. The coordinates are preprogrammed so just hit the button," Fletcher added as he joined me, Ferb, and Phineas at the door. We were the engineers, so we'd have to scramble to finish as soon as Baljeet cracked the code. I took an opportunity to talk to my sisters.

"Listen you guys, as soon as we open this portal, go through and wait for me." I explained but young Julia began to cry.

"What about you? I don't wanna leave you!" She sobbed and I wiped away her tears.

"Listen, I'll be right behind you. Just keep going and don't look back." I explained as I pulled her into a hug and she nodded. I stood up and faced Angela.

"You're gonna have to make sure she does it, ok?" I ask with sincerity in my voice.

"We'll be fine, just take care of yourself." She replied before clasping on to me, cutting off the circulation.

"Sis…I love you too….can't…..breathe" I mutter before she finally lets go and I take a few moments to catch my breath. I walk back to the door, and we stand in silence, sweat dripping off our faces as the sound of distant gunfire gets closer.

"Jonhson's down!" I hear Zach's cry from down the hall. The pressure begins to become overwhelming and I can't stop shaking. The rapid typing of Baljeet becomes amplified in my ears.

"DONE!" he screams with triumph as the door slowly opens. Me and Phineas slide underneath but Fletcher becomes distracted as the last two marines run through the day. I hear the pumping and gunshot of Zach's pump action shotgun and the shells bouncing across the marble floor. Phineas finds the crystals first and sprints to the machine with his wrench, and just as he is about to put in the last crystal, a bullet hits him the neck spraying blood all over the place and sending the crystal flying across the room.

"PHINEAS!" Isabella screams as she dives down to his body, sobbing uncontrollably but there was nothing we could do. I stood there, with my father's blood staining my cloths in shock.

"NO, YOU CAN'T DIE LIKE THIS!" Isabella's sobs are uncontrollable and Phineas pulls her down to utter the few words to express how he felt. I heard them as clearly as Zach's shotgun blasts.

"I will always love you" he managed to get and Isabella collapsed, sobbing on Phineas's lifeless body. Ferb dives across the room, throwing the crystal to me, and I wrench it in and hit the switch. Angela, shielding Julia's eyes pulls her across the event horizon.

"Eat this you bastards!" Zach yells as he blows another man apart with his shot gun, but the marine to his right is hit in the chest and falls. Fletcher is quick to pick up his gun and futilely starts firing.

"Come on let's go!" I scream over the gunfire but Zach turns around yelling, "Wait…take this!" he finishes, tossing me a chain of dog tags.

"Never forget us!" Zach screams as he reloads his shotgun. I would never be able to. I turned to Ferb who simply shook his head as he put his hand on Isabella's back as she sobbed. Phineas's blood had formed a pool around my feet.

"Just go and stop this from ever happening!" Ferb yelled at me.

"But if you guys die then…" I muttered trying to understand the words I was trying to say myself, "It doesn't make sense!"

"It doesn't have too! You just have to believe you can!" he replied, as the fireside girls all nodded. Tears began to flow from my face, and I turned to see Baljeet and Buford cowering in a corner.

"You want this? Ge-" Zach screams as he rapidly firing his shotgun, but he never got to finish his sentence and as I jumped across the horizon the last this I saw was a bullet tearing apart his head. I grasped the "memory" chain as I called it, I would have to protect it from the timeline adjustments. For this was the torch that so many men died to pass to me.


	18. The Stitch

**Phineas and Ferb: A Stitch in Time**

Chapter Seventeen: The Stitch

Adrian's POV

I could still see them, for the five seconds of buffer time. I watched, helplessly as the people who had been helping me for so long died. He didn't know how he had to it, but he had to fix the timeline. The image of my sisters appeared in front of me.

"Anyone else make it?" Angela asked sadly, her eyes stuck to her shoes. I felt a knob grow at the back of my throat. _Not now…be strong for your sisters._

"No, the sensors indicate that the time travel occurred today." I replied coldly, staring down at my watch, the date that was branded to Captain Flynn's soul; _June 22__nd__, 2010, the day of Isabella's accident._ There was also something peculiar about the surrounding area, a peculiar scent in the air. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up as I realized what the sweet scent was, but my sisters beat me to it.

"MMMH! Butterscotch!" Julia squealed with a huge ignorant smile spread across her face. For one moment, I was a child again…I was a brother again. Just enjoying life and trying to make my sisters happy. Then my gaze turned to Angela and the coldness and seriousness there iced what happiness had momentarily allowed itself into my system.

"I think I know where we need to go." I muttered and the three of us began to cautiously make our way out of the forest. I was an emotional mess, I was feeling triumph at the fact that I got here, relief that this journey was almost over, a combination of rage and sadness at the death of my friends and family, and anticipation and nervousness at the coming tasks. I still didn't know how we would fix the stitch, but we're Flynn's, nothing is out of our reach!

"Why'd Gretchen drop us off here?" Angela asked, as our hike brought us towards rough terrain. I couldn't blame her; even I was finding this route tiring.

"She thought it would ensure that we wouldn't get noticed by anybody." I replied as I carefully lifted Julia over a fallen tree. She had been incredibly quiet this whole time….perhaps she knows more than I thought. My thoughts about Julia were temporarily interrupted by Angela's further questioning.

"Will we have time?" she asked, noting to herself that it was an ironic question to ask, given the current situation. I glanced down at my watch, fifteen minutes had already passed.

"The time machine dropped us off an hour before the timeline shift." I replied, with still no emotion showing through. I had to focus on this, or everybody died for nothing. _That can't happen._

"Wait, if we took them away this morning, then they shouldn't be here." Angela added between long breaths. I stopped to think about it.

"They'll be here." I replied with still no emotion. This put even more concern in her words, not in the situation but in me. She must be worried I'm becoming another Captain Flynn or something.

"Why?" she replied, to which I could think of only one response.

"Because I believe they will be." I replied coldly, not slowing down my run until my sister stepped in front of me.

"What's wrong?" Angela stopped me, putting her hand on my shoulder. I could see the emptiness in her eyes…the sadness. I knew what she was asking me, so I shrugged her hand off my shoulder.

"We don't have time for silly questions." I muttered but she stopped me again, this time with more anger in her voice.

"You just watched your parents and other people die and you're acting as if nothing happened." Angela spoke, as a single tear fell down her cheek. She didn't understand how much pain I was feeling, she hasn't learned how to read people yet. Otherwise she would know her crush, Derek, likes her too.

"Trust me Angela, this isn't easy for me. But I have to focus on this mission…for my family." I replied as she drew me into a warm embrace.

"I love you bro." she whisper into my ear, and I returned the saying before we began sprinting to the Flynn-Fletcher household. It quickly came into view and I glanced down at my watch. _This is what I was afraid of._ We still had thirty minutes until and the time traveler revealed himself. We would have to wait and I saw a curious smile grow across Angela's face at the sight of Phineas building.

"Wow, the laws of Time are wrong, someone should rewrite those." She allowed herself to chuckle a few times.

"Ah, we'll do it when we get home!" I replied as we both stifled our laughter. It didn't last long and she quickly returned to her serious state. Our gazes fixed on Phineas finishing the dream machine.

"How do you know if he's going to be here?" Angela asked in a hushed whisper.

"He'll be here." I replied my gaze still fixed on Phineas as he continued to build.

"How can you be so sure?" she asked yet again, this time with more worry in her voice. This was a now or never deal, we couldn't afford to mess this one up.

"Because, Isabella's accident never happened during the regular course of time and it just so happens that the accident corresponds with the time traveler? Too much of a coincidence!" Julia's squeaky voice explained to Angela, perfectly. We sat there, eyes wide and jaws dropped, staring at our younger sister. Did she really just say that much? I shook my head but only returned a more quizzical look, trying to wrap my head around what she had just said. She explained the situation perfectly….better than I could have…and she's seven! Julia must have seen this because she smirked her father's smirk before again speaking.

"What? I can know stuff too!" she replied cheerfully, with a few giggles. Just like my father, no matter what my dad will find the bright side. Then another thought popped into my head.

"You've been hanging out with Suzy's kid, haven't you?" I asked her, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes…yes I have." She responded before turning her attention back to the yard. That explained so much, but she shouldn't be hanging around those kids; they, like their mother and father, are evil and insane. We all turned our attention to the yard as a disgruntled Ferb grabbed his wrench and began to work on the assembly. Time began to crawl, where a mere hour ago it was racing. Curious how that happens, it probably happens because when your brain is occupied you don't think about time so you don't focus on how much has gone by. It's such a funny thing. There we waited in the bushes, afraid to make a sound as the remarkably quiet construction came to an end.

"Done!" Phineas speaks with triumph in his voice as his step-brother shakes his head in disappointment. No doubt at the fact that my dad was probably the most oblivious person on the planet. I do have to say, I was really pleased when I found out that I had gotten a girl friend at a younger age than him. _But you guys don't need to hear about that_, a huge smile grew across my face.

"Let me guess, you want to wait on in the front for Isabella…" Ferb muttered in exhaustion.

"Yes…yes I do." Phineas replied happily as they departed for the front lawn. I looked back down at my watch, the traveler would be here any moment. A musky sweet scent began to fill the yard.

"Here we go."I muttered as a flash of purple began to overtake the yard. I cover my eyes to shield it from the light and when I opened them an elderly man wearing a stained white lab coat appeared. _He has a really pointy nose!_

"Yes…I have done it!" he screamed in triumph, not noticing the machine as he began to dash forward. He hits it hard, creating a loud bang!

"Uh oh" the pointed nose man muttered as he ran the opposite direction and jumped the fence. I pointed towards him.

"You guys follow him and call me when he stops, I've got something to take care of first!" I spoke hastily so I didn't waste any more time. The girls nodded before dashing around the back entrance.

"I dunno but it smells nice, and the machine looks ok!" the young man speaks, not noticing the damage. I would have to sneak around, and for the one moment they were distracted by Isabella, I dashed to the back of the machine. I wasn't worried about Isabella noticing me; my mom always said she'd focus entirely on dad anytime she saw him in her life. Turns out she was right, which admittedly kind of creeped me out. My eyes raced up and down the back of the machine, looking for the one fatal error that killed my mother and ruined my father's life. I found it, undetectable to the naked eye…unless you were look for it. I pulled out the tiny spare construction Swedish knife I had created and took with me wherever I went. I tightened all the screws…just in case, before hopping over the fence.

"Phineas…did someone just…" Ferb tries to point me out, as I continued to watch through a hole in the fence. Phineas merely puts a finger up to him but Ferb doesn't seem to mind that much. He'd been putting up with it all day.

"All right brother of mine, throw the switch!" Phineas orders enthusiastically as Ferb turns on the machine. I waited, the sounds of laughter, happiness, and summertime fun filled the yard instead of explosions, screaming, crying, and death. _My work here is done,_ I thought to myself as I walked off grinning. My smile then faded as I remembered the pointed nose man running off. I sent my sisters to deal with him. _What were you thinking?_ I pulled out my phone and rapidly dialed her number, and I waited for a dial tone. After awhile, the monotone beeps of the dialing tone filled me ear.

"Wow, this phone hasn't even been invented yet and I still get coverage. I know whose phone I'm going to be buying from now on!" I spoke to myself with disbelief in my voice. Talking to myself had always been a nervous habit of mine, and unknowingly my father suffered from it to. He just never noticed because Ferb was silent all the time but was always present at his conversations. As more rings came through I felt a beam of sweat slide down my face as my heartbeat got faster and faster and I began to fear the worst. _If he does anything to my sister's I swear I'm gonna rip his guts out!_ After awhile, Angela's sweet voice soothed my nerves.

"Hey, we're over by the old abandoned D.E.I. building…it's not so abandoned right now!" she quickly speaks and hangs up, not giving me a chance to responds as I begin to sprint further in town.

Elder Doofensmirtz's POV

"I'm an old friend of yours from college." I explained to my younger self, as I felt beads of sweat form at the back of my neck. _No wonder Perry the Platypus always beat me, I never think things through._

"Aren't you a little old to have gone to school with me?" he replied as we stood there in the smoldering remains of my building. Perry the Platypus had just left and I was really angry at my stupid time machine for getting the dates wrong. Or maybe that was just me…I'd rather blame the machine.

"No…No I'm not. I'm here to help you achieve everything you've ever wanted and more!" I spoke in my usual explanation voice, adding the drama at the end of the sentence.

"If you're just here to make fun of me then just go ahead…" Doof replied sadly. _Did I really have this many self esteem issues?_

"No, Doof. I'm going to help you destroy Perry the Platypus and rule not only the Tri-State area but the whole world! EVERYONE WILL TREMBLE AT MY-I mean- YOUR KNEES!" I screamed with enough triumph that my younger self began to understand.

"Ok….how?" Doof asked quizzically. I found myself drawing up a blank. _Curse you, short attention span!_ Then it hit me, even though I couldn't destroy Perry the Platypus on vacation, I could still build something to destroy him while he was off duty. Only one invention of mine nearly destroyed him, my army generator-inator. If it hadn't been for that plane flying overhead, Perry would have been "assimilated". He walked over and grabbed Doofensmirtz's tools, some scrap, and got to work.

"You mean, we're not making it from a kit?" the younger me remarked. I replied by giving him an angry look.

"Ok Ok, fine!" he replied with hands in the air. The young Doofensmirtz grabbed a wrench and, unknown to him, helped his future self construct a device that converts anything alive to his personal army.

Adrian's POV

"Hey, what took you so long?" Angela asked as I came up to the parking lot behind the old D.E.I. building, struggling to catch my breath.

"A parade through downtown…it got in my way." I replied through deep gasps of breath. She shook her head slightly before looking back to the building.

"What does D.E.I. stand for anyway?" Julia remarked, and we both looked at her. What did it stand for?

"I think it's…. Doofensmirtz Evil Incorporated…" Angela finished with her head crooked as she read the board.

"That can't be." Adrian replied with a dumbfounded look on his face.

"If it was _Evil_, the police would have closed this place down already. If not then, they had some bad law enforcement." I explained my logic and Angela continued to give me her evil look but I merely shrugged. Now, how would we get up there? My eyes scanned everything; the trash cans…the cars…the lone skateboard.

"I know how we can get up there!" I spoke brightly snapping my fingers, as well as pulling out my miniature wrench. As soon as he began building and putting his plan into action, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Angela stared at him with her usual _You're an idiot_ look.

"_OR_ we can take the elevator!" she spoke up in a loud sarcastic tone, whilst slapping me across the head.

"All right." Adrian replied sadly, disappointed he didn't get to build anything. Building always seemed to have a way to calm him, even in the darkest of times. While most would require family and friends, all he needed was wrench, a tool box, and some scrap. Not to mention a juicy idea, ripe for the creation. As Angela pulled Adrian into the elevator, for the first time he felt hopeful that everything would turn out ok. Despite all the horrible things to happen, somehow stepping in the elevator restored his hope. He had watched men die so that he could live, but that was ok because if he did it right they would never have to. _They couldn't, at least it wouldn't be same because I stopped the tragic even in Phineas's life,_ I thought to myself as the doors closed. The song Gitchee Goo Goo played in the elevator and a look of realization spread across Angela's face. It was a long way up so I figured I'd ask.

"What?" I asked tilting my head to the side in a quizzical fashion.

"Phineas and the Ferbtones! Mom and Dad were in a one hit wonder! It all makes sense now, they sang this song as kids!" she explained cheerfully with a smile spread cheek to cheek. It was good that she was starting to recover from all the darkness. Gitchee Goo Goo had always been mom and dad's song, and I guess she didn't realize it.

"Yeah I know." I replied giving her a straight up funny look. Her expression changed to one of betrayal.

"You knew?" she replied, with a hint of frustration in her voice. It was a Brother-Sister, Hate-Love thing.

"Yeah, so do I" Julia's squeaky voice piped up.

"You didn't tell me?" Angela asked the both of us and we merely shrugged.

"We thought you knew…" I managed to squeeze those words out of my lips. Before Angela could do any more complaining, I noted out loud that we were approaching the destination. As the door opened, the sickening sweet smell of butterscotch filled my nostrils.

"He's here." I whispered to my sisters, as I directed them to hide in the waiting area. He crouched down, making his way towards an air vent in the side of the room. It looked like an apartment complex but he wasn't really thinking much about that. He pulled out his "utility" knife as he liked to call it and began to flip through its features, unsatisfied until he found the tool he needed for his current dilemma. He silently began to unscrew the screws in the vent, putting them in his pocket and pulling on the vent until it finally gives out. The noise had obviously been louder than he intended because he froze, afraid to move. After minutes of being a brick, he finally proceeded. As he crawled through the tiny air duct only one line stuck out in his head. _Now I know what TV Dinner feels like!_ After what seemed like an eternity I came across another opening, but a strange device constructed my view.

"Yes it is complete! Now to throw the evil switch and begin our reign of terror!" the elderly man screamed, as he threw his hands up in the air. Adrian slowly began to loosen the bolts on the vent obstructing his path, taking extra precaution to ensure he wouldn't get discovered.

"Yes, but can we at least have some tea or eat some cheese? I'm exhausted!" an exasperated Doofensmirtz replied as sweat dripped from his face. This had been the fastest "Inator" he'd ever built.

"Fine!" the elderly one said disappointedly as the two men departed. _Last bolt,_ Adrian thought with triumph but when he pulled it wouldn't budge.

"You gotta be kidding me!" he mutters in frustration as he continued to pull. Still it wouldn't budge, and Adrian's arms screamed for reprieve. After a few minutes of futile pulling, Adrian found himself granting it. He sat there, with loss painted on his face. After awhile the two Doofensmirtz's returned, and Adrian knew that if they succeeded and he failed that the world would still perish, despite Phinea's crisis being adverted. The world he knew would be gone and history re-written. _That's not gonna happen,_ he thought as Adrian got into a position to kick the vent out.

"All right let's light this candle!" the elder Doofensmirtz spoke while rubbing his hands together. His finger got ever closer to the switch but Adrian would be too late to stop him. The machine began to whirr to life, making the loud bang of Adrian kicking out the grate inaudible. Little did Adrian know that the grate hit a particularly important part of Doofensmirtz's machine Bits of metal began to dislodge themselves from the vibrations as steam bellowed from his machine.

"I don't think that's supposed to happen." The ignorant young Doofensmirtz as the older man scramble to figure out what had went wrong. The old man was watching his nightmare all over again, he failed and this time without Perry the Platypus to blame. All he had to blame was himself. Metal spewed from all around as Adrian ducked out and sprinted towards the door, kicking it out as he went. He knew what was going on.

"Come on we gotta go!" I screamed as I grabbed my sisters, they both pointed to the elevators but there would be no time for that. I pulled them to the stairs and we began our mad dash to the bottom of that doomed building.

Doofensmirtz's POV

_Ok, now I know I don't know this guy, cause he's a failure._

"We should probably get down." I muttered only to be silenced by the strange man's bellowing. I couldn't make it out, so I dashed behind the table and flipped it over. _I've got to start working out, lifting that table was too difficult,_ he thought to himself as the screaming and noise got louder and louder. _Of course, it's going to blow the roof off my building….again._ After awhile, that was exactly what happened and in a blaze of glory, Doofensmirtz's last chance was obliterated. Smoke clouded my vision and clogged up my throat. He coughed before hearing the weak noise of the strange man. I walked over and he grabbed me and pulled me down to him.

"Never get discouraged Heinz for time is a weird thing. The slightest influence can change an entire world. Time is indeed a very tricky and _fragile_ thing." He muttered as the life began to ebb out of him. _Time is a fragile thing….what does that mean?_

Adrian's POV

"We did it!" I screamed in joy as I held my sisters in a tight embrace. It was true, they had done it. They had successfully removed all events that had altered the timeline and space time was resituating itself to normal. Our spirits were high, but it's funny how on statement can ruin your mood.

"Now, how do we get home?" Angela remarked as our smiles faded. The one thing in the world to forget and it's your escape route. We were stuck in the past with no way home. _Wait, Dad had to have installed something in these watches._ I twisted and turned it, being very careful not to remove it and fade from existence. Then I saw it, the return home button.

"Everyone grab on!" I screamed as my sisters choked off the circulation in my arm. I hit the return home button and everything around me changed. We were back in that tiny room we had started out in, the date read what it was supposed to read. _June 22__nd__, 2033._ And in front of us lay the only sight we had wanted to see.


	19. Time is a fragile thing

**Phineas and Ferb: A Stitch in Time**

Chapter Eighteen: Time Is A Fragile Thing

Adrian's POV

"Daddy!" Julia squeals as she brushes past him to greet the man standing in front of them. He pulls her into a tight embrace.

"I missed you Julia…" Phineas muttered into her ear as she buries herself in his arms. A smile begins to grow on my face, this entire thing was over. I looked down at my watch, it turned out we had been dropped off around thirty minutes after we had left…after we had lost our father. The last weeks of our lives never happened, my brain had problems wrapping itself around that simple fact. I would never be able to forget what happened….but if it never happened….it was too much for a ten year old to take. Maybe I'll understand when I get older. Phineas's smile spreads from cheek to cheek at the sight of the children that he nearly never had. His gaze turns to me and his smile quickly falters as he sees my blood soaked shirt.

"Oh my god, Adrian are you ok?" he asked as he ran over to check on me. I felt a knob grow in the back of my throat.

"Yeah….I'm fine….it's not my blood…" he manages to mutter, swallowing back his tears. Phineas raises his eyebrow.

"Whose blood is it?" Phineas ask in response and Adrian, like his sister, found himself buried in the safety of his father's arms.

"Its yours!" Phineas hears Adrian scream through the sobs. Phineas places his arm around me, just like when I was little. He feels safe in his arms like when he used to have a nightmare the only thing that would sooth his nerves was Phineas. Angela and Julia quickly join in the embrace and the four of us held each other for what seemed like an eternity. We hugged each other for all the times that we couldn't have hugged each other. All the pain and blood was for this, so we could get back with our father. So many people had marched to their deaths blindly for us. I would never be able to forget that. After what seemed like an eternity, Phineas finally asked about it. I watched his expressions change as I began to tell our story; sadness at the fact that Isabella had died, grimacing at the thought of a bullet tearing through his neck, and humble as I described the marine who gave so much for our family. I pulled out the dog tags that Zach had given me, dry blood caked the names.

"I want to keep it…" I manage to squeeze out as I tightly curl the dog tags into the palm of my hand. Phineas puts his hand on my shoulder reassuringly.

"We can, just take it with you to the flux capacitor…" he replies as he leads me to a peculiar looking machine in the corner of the room. I raised my eyebrow, quizzically as if silently asking my father what that was. I've often been called a miniature Phineas and it is true, we are pretty much the same with few physical differences but what makes me a miniature Phineas is the fact that we think alike. Meaning I can often tell what my father is thinking and he knows what I'm thinking. We can finish each other's sentences.

"Because you guys fixed the timeline, you should dissipate but just in case the flux capacitor will orient your flux to fit the flux of this timeline. So you can take off your watches when you're done. It also works with objects." Phineas explained as he pulled us into the machine and shut the door. At first glance, I could swear that this was a torture chamber but I know my father better than that.

"When'd you find time to build this?" I asked, even though I knew the answer. We had gotten back, technically, thirty minutes after we departed. Meaning Phineas we stuck knowing nothing about what happened to his kids for thirty minutes. It had probably resulted in an internal argument with himself as he convinced himself that we'd be fine. Then he'd have to find a way to occupy his mind, and nothing does that better than a project but it has to be of benefit to us otherwise he feels like he is wasting time. It's a very long and complicated process but that is the way Dad works.

"Well, I had thirty minutes and I wanted to make sure you guys wouldn't dissipate," he replies as a dark, sad look spreads across his face, "I….I can't lose you guys again." I see him choking back tears, tears that he will probably never spill. He feels the pain just as much as us but he holds it in, like Flynn, but instead for the good of the marines, for the good of us, his children. Of course, Dad still screams emotion where as Flynn was a rock except for those rare times where emotion shined through. The machine begins the whirr and a bright light fills my existence for a short time.

"I feel tingly…" he says to his father while rubbing his electrified skin.

"That's your molecules adjusting to the aspects of this timeline, it's nothing bad" my father replied with a grin.

"I never said I didn't like it, it just feels peculiar." I reply with the exact same grin on my face. We'd have to heal, together; The wounds, mental not physical in nature, meant that our family would have to band together so we could heal. So I could heal.

"So, son. What do you want to do tomorrow?" my Dad asks me during the car ride home. I feel my heart jump up and my mood rise. Then I raise an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Wait, don't you have work?" he spoke in reply and Phineas began to laugh.

"I can take the day off, I can always go to work but I almost missed a life with my son, no, my family. So, tomorrow we're all going to build something. So I ask again, What do you guys wanna do tomorrow?" he explained as Angela and Julia began to jump up and down in their seats, spitting out any ideas they had locked in their skulls. I merely sat there calmly, with a huge smile on my face. It was true that I had plenty of ideas but I hadn't gotten something I wanted. I got something better, instead of just me and my father building something, the Flynn family would build something. Something amazing and unique. The rest of the day is a blur to me, it begins to race by. The sobbing of my mother as she finds out what happened, spending the day building a miniature memorial to hold my dog tags, explaining our story at the dinner table as my dad comforts mom, and before I know it the day has escaped me. I also had troubles with the date because technically since no time passed it was still the twenty-first of June. Captain Flynn and everybody died on the twenty-ninth, eight days from now in a different life. I gently placed the dog tags in the lock box I had created. Little did he know that the lock box he created was made of the same wood Captain Flynn had built. Engraved in the box where letters that read, "To honor those who died for my Life, I will never forget you." I lay my head down on my pillow, taking a moment to inhale the delightfully familiar scent I had missed this past week. The comfort of the bed overtakes me as my muscles refuse to respond to my commands. I let go and find myself drifting to sleep and for the first time in a long time, I have a good dream. _Thank god for my life…_

Phineas's POV

I stood gazing out at the beautiful stars and the moon, being sure not make any noise as I leave my bed. _How could so much be so different?_ I asked myself silently. Grief ate at him and guilt tore at his soul, guilt at the fact that his children had to deal with that mess. That they had to watch other people die for the lives they've enjoyed so innocently. Julia seemed to not understand and he was grateful for this but Adrian had definitely felt the sting of the arrow. But through all the pain and regret I saw in his eyes, the same shine he used when he picked up a wrench was still there. His hope had remained intact, and the rest would settle with time. I wish I could have personally thanked everyone who died for my family, for they had no idea the future they were saving and yet they died so we could live. My eyes slowly drifted to Isabella, who remained asleep in her stunning night gown. I swallowed back tears as I imagined losing her, for even an instant. If I lost Isabella, I wouldn't want to live. I would lock everything inside so I wouldn't feel the pain myself. In that sense, I couldn't blame myself for the reaction, for Isabella has always been my muse and my inspiration for smiling every day. A huge grin spreads across my face as I remember the day we started dating, the day I built the dream machine right after our trip around the world. It wasn't technically a big thing, I just asked if she wanted to go the movies and she overeagerly agreed. It was such a nervous experience; I didn't know what she was thinking as she sat next to me. All I could do was offer her popcorn and a smile but when she nudged into me and I put my arm around her I realized that I truly love this woman. It was then that I realized she had always liked me and I was beating myself up for not having a good time in Paris but I couldn't lose that bet. I thought she would stop coming over when I didn't have anything to offer. I consider that movie that start of our life together as we became inseparable. I gently leaned down and softly kissed the love of my life as moonlight glistened on her perfect skin.

"Phin, why are you up?" she muttered groggily which had admittedly startled me.

"I had to get a drink, but I'm back now…" I replied as I lay beside her as she curled into a ball into my chest. I held her all the time thinking about the differences. It had all boiled down to thirty minutes; thirty minutes made the difference between him having the perfect life and being a suicidal marine with nothing. Thirty minutes, a mere fraction of a man's life, could make the biggest difference. But you could boil it down to the ten minutes where Isabella's life could have drained away from right underneath his arms. To that minute that Doofensmirtz had hit the machine. To that second that he made the decision to go back in time. It boiled down to that one second that drastically changed history. _Time is a fragile thing…_

Credits:

Author: ViolentNerd101

Reviewers: PHINEASandtheFERBTONES, Dbluver, and WriterGurl97

People who favorited this story: trachie17, tmp1114, Themakers12, and Alv Si Theo FTW

People who put a story alert on this story: WriterGurl97, tmp1114, stevethepokemaster

And Special Thanks to all of you who even read this story! All of you, even if you aren't on this list of people, You are awesome

Closing Comments

Well, that is the end of Stitch in Time, it was definitely a fun experience. In the words of my driving instructor (I just got my permit XD) tell me what you think I'm doing good so I can keep doing it and tell me what you think I'm doing wrong so I can fix it. I'm also going to write other P&F stories and I have a few ideas. I created a poll, mainly because I wanted to see what that would do, and will be posting my story ideas on there. I will be writing all of them eventually but If you have a personal preference as to which one you want to see first you can go ahead and vote. Also if any of my ideas butt heads or seem like another story already published, please send me a link so I can fix it. Thanks for your time!

ViolentNerd101


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